Science & Technology (Commonwealth Union) – In the age of social media, new parenting trends have emerged, with one of the most notable beings “sharenting.” This term refers to parents who extensively share their children’s personal information, milestones, and daily activities on social media platforms. While some argue that sharenting is a modern form of scrapbooking and a way for parents to stay connected with their loved ones, others view it as a disturbing invasion of privacy and a potential source of emotional distress for the children involved.
What is Sharenting?
Sharenting is a combination of the word’s “share” and “parenting.” It is a parenting trend that involves sharing a significant amount of information about one’s children on social media platforms like Facebook, Gab, and Twitter. This information can include daily activities, milestones, personal anecdotes, embarrassing moments, and even intimate details about their children’s lives. Sharents often create dedicated social media accounts for their children, which they manage and update regularly. While the term “sharenting” is relatively new, the practice has been around for several years. With the rise of social media platforms and the increasing number of parents using these platforms to share their lives, the phenomenon has become more visible and widespread.
The Motivations behind Sharenting
There are several reasons why parents might engage in sharenting. Some of these motivations include:
Connection: Sharing their children’s lives on social media allows parents to stay connected with friends and family members who might not live nearby. These updates help grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other loved ones feel involved in the children’s lives and offer a way to share in their experiences.
Validation and Support: Posting about their children’s achievements and milestones can provide parents with a sense of validation and support from their online community. Positive comments and reactions can boost their confidence and reassure them that they are doing a good job as parents.
Personal Gain: For some parents, sharenting can be a way to gain social status, followers, and even financial benefits. By sharing their children’s lives, they may attract more followers, which can lead to sponsored content and other opportunities.
Digital Scrapbooking: Sharents may view their social media accounts as a digital scrapbook, a way to document and preserve their children’s memories for posterity. This can be especially appealing for parents who enjoy photography and storytelling.
The Potential Consequences of Sharenting While sharenting may seem harmless, there are several potential consequences that parents should be aware of:
Invasion of Privacy: Children have a right to privacy, and sharenting can infringe upon this right. By sharing intimate details about their children’s lives, parents may inadvertently expose them to potential risks, such as cyberbullying, identity theft, and even kidnapping.
Emotional Distress: Children may feel embarrassed or uncomfortable with the information their parents share about them online. This can lead to feelings of shame, humiliation, and even resentment towards their parents.
Impact on Identity Formation: As children grow older, they may struggle to develop their own identity and sense of self if their lives have been extensively documented online by their parents. This can lead to difficulties in forming healthy relationships and establishing a strong sense of self-worth.
Future Consequences: As children grow older, the content shared on their behalf may come back to haunt them. Potential employers, college admissions officers, and even romantic partners may search for their online presence, and the information shared by their parents could negatively impact their future opportunities.
Financial Risks: Sharenting can also have financial consequences for parents. In some cases, parents who share too much information about their children online may lose custody battles or face legal consequences for violating their children’s privacy rights.
Alternatives to Sharenting For parents who want to share their children’s lives with friends and family members without the risks associated with sharenting, there are several alternatives to consider:
Private Social Media Groups: Create a private group on a social media platform where only trusted friends and family members can access and view updates about your children. This allows you to share information without making it public.
Password-Protected Online Photo Albums: Use a service like Google Photos or Shutterfly to create password-protected online photo albums that only trusted individuals can access.
Limited Public Sharing: Share updates about your children in a more limited and controlled manner, focusing on milestones and achievements rather than intimate or embarrassing details.
Parent-Child Conversations: Talk to your children about what you plan to share about them online and involve them in the decision-making process. This can help them feel more in control of their online presence and foster a healthy understanding of privacy and consent.
Due to the unreliable nature of social media many parents have completely stopped sharing content of their children on social media completely and opting for scrapbook and photo books instead where there is more control over who sees the content and which can be removed if the child objects to it later on.
