Social media is the modern brag book for parents. The phenomenon of “sharenting” has created a culture of oversharing with unintended consequences. How? Within those posts, parents may be listing dangerous hashtags that can put their children and family in risky situations.
How Real Is the Danger?
It’s not happening to every child or family, but it has happened and the risk is very real.
Dr. Stacey Steinberg, University of Florida law professor and digital parenting expert, wrote about one incident in a paper entitled Sharenting: Children’s Privacy in the Age of Social Media. She mentions a mommy blogger who posted photos of her twin toddlers potty training. The photos were downloaded by strangers, shared on websites around the world and made into memes.
While the memes seemed cute at first, the mother came to regret her actions. People said whatever they wanted, and there were likely creepy people viewing them as well. Once content is out on the web, there’s no way to delete those photos. And while not everyone has bad intentions, there are pedophiles, predators, and stalkers out there. So, it’s important to protect yourself.
Find out the dangerous hashtags you may be using, other unintended identifiers you’re leaving behind, and how you can share family joys without putting anyone at risk.
