If you’re a proud parent in this digital age, you’ve probably snapped more than a few photos of your children to share with friends and family on social media.
But before you hit that “Post” button, it’s important to consider the potential pitfalls and best practices of sharing children’s photos online.
After all, you don’t want to accidentally become an oversharing parent or compromise your child’s safety.
Before you bombard your followers with lil one pics, let’s talk about some do’s and don’ts of sharing your kid’s photos on social media.
So, let’s delve into the delightful and sometimes daunting world of sharing your n’s photos on social media!
Sharenting can be Harmful.
‘Sharenting,’ a fusion of ‘parenting’ and sharing,’ is described as the regular use of social media to post news or photographs of one’s kids. It can harm a kid in various ways, like cyberbullying, stalking, and even child abduction or trafficking. identity theft.
Social media can also influence children’s mental health and self-esteem by pressuring them to perform and seek validation online.
So, parents should be aware of sharenting’s threats and take steps to protect their children’s privacy and well-being.
From cute and cuddly to cautious and conscientious.
The Internet is a free space where anyone can explore and view millions of photos. As a result, you must always consider minors. Sometimes it’s simple stuff, common sense, that we overlook when we post photos of our children.
Must read: How to store your child’s Artwork
However, sharing photos of your kids on social networks comes with some risks, so you need to learn how to do it safely. Here’s what you need to know.
Never post a photo of a naked child.
It may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many photographs of naked toddlers can be found on social media. The protective instincts of parents should always be on the lookout for sexual predators.
Even if we don’t see anything inappropriate in the picture, others could.
The location of the child’s home shouldn’t be deduced
Your kid’s Photos shared on social media can provide clues about their whereabouts, mainly if they include images of easily recognizable locations such as the entrance of their school or a familiar market.
Even seemingly innocuous details like an interior photo taken next to a window with a visible street sign can reveal a child’s location.
However, it is crucial to be mindful of these details and consider the potential risks of sharing location information on social media.
Turn Off the Metadata
When it comes to uploading photos of children to social networks, it’s important to be mindful of the metadata attached to those images.
Metadata is information stored within the file, such as the date, time, and location of the photo.
This can be valuable information for anyone wanting to track the child’s whereabouts, which could endanger them.
To prevent this from happening, it’s crucial to turn off the metadata before uploading any photos of children to social networks. This can typically be done within the settings of your camera or smartphone or through a third-party app that specializes in removing metadata.
Collage It
Instead of uploading each photo of your kid, creating a collage can reduce the likelihood that someone will try to download it and edit it themselves. Because of their reduced size and resolution, the photographs will be more challenging to modify.
Be cautious with tagging.
Many of us tag other family members in images we post on Facebook (particularly Aunt/ Grandparents). The issue here is that not only the person you’ve tagged may see this photo, but anyone with access to their profile can also.
Thus, while you may know your own Facebook contacts well enough, you can’t be guaranteed that they will remain so after they are visible to everyone on someone else’s profile.
Avoid Posting Your kid’s Daily Schedule Online.
Avoid sharing details about your kid’s daily routine on social media, such as when they attend crèche or after-school activities. This makes it easier for strangers to know where your lil one will be and when you won’t be around to protect them.
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Refrain From Posting Photos of Other Kids
When deciding whether or not to share images of your kids online, it’s important to keep the privacy of other children in mind. Hence, you shouldn’t upload any pictures to social media that feature the children of others without first obtaining their consent.
Sometimes even if the parent or guardian gives permission, the child may still feel uncomfortable or violated by having their image shared online.
Monitor the Comments
Monitor the comments on your posts. Be aware of the comments on your posts, and remove any that are inappropriate or negative. R
emember that once a photo is posted online, it can be difficult to control who sees it and how it’s used.
Consider Watermarking Your Photos:
Consider watermarking your photos. Adding a watermark or overlay to your photos can help prevent them from being used without your permission. There are many free watermarking tools available online.
Regarding your kid, however, it’s worth taking a bit more time to think about what you’re doing. Ask yourself if it’s something they would want to see in the future.
Think about whether the photo captures a happy memory or if it could potentially embarrass or upset them.
Remember, once something is posted online, it isn’t easy to take back, so it’s important to be mindful of the long-term effects of sharing personal information.
Wrap up
So there you have it, folks! With these tips, you can now safely share those adorable photos of your little ones without worrying about any potential harm.
But if all else fails, you could always resort to old-fashioned methods like printing out the pictures and mailing them to your friends and family.
Who knows, maybe snail mail will make a comeback! But until then, happy sharing (responsibly, of course)!
What guidelines do you follow when sharing photos of your kids on social media, and how do you balance the desire to share special moments with friends and family while protecting your kid’s privacy and safety?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Mads’ Cookhouse.
Very important information.. thanks for sharing it …
[…] Must read: How to share your kid’s photos safely online […]
This is such an informative post. We in crazy love for our kids, knowingly or unknowingly sometimes post our kid’s pics and don’t realise the harm we have done rather than the good. Collaging and turning off location is what I mostly do whilst sharing. All your other tips are amazing and I will indeed pay heed to them.
This is such a thoughtful post, and really worth a share its golden information for parents.
I have tried to avoid my kids pics on social media and yes that’s for her betterment.
I agree absolutely with you. Even I get carried away and post my grandsons’ pics. We have to show restraint. The internet is not a safe place. Stalking kidnapping is a reality. Especially in Guadalajara, Mexico, where they stay. And sexual predators can misuse pics in many ways.
This is a really important post. It scares me to see people sharing personal information on social media so freely. For some things, the old fashion methods are better.
Very useful tips. We are so enthu about posting pics of our kids that sometimes we don’t realize the risks attached. And i learnt a new word today–Sharenting!!
This is an etxremely helpful post- my sis in law is a new mother and have shared it with her- some of these points never crossed my mind but are indeed helpful!
This a very sensible post. These points are so important and need to be reinforced for your child’s safety. They are truly vulnerable on the www, being exposed to so many people.
Appreciate you writing about this! In the world where social media seems to be the place where you share what’s happening with your life with the people you love (whom unfortunately isn’t like the old days where most of them are your neighbours), you also get to share the information/photos, with the rest of the world where you really don’t know much whom. This is one important thing parents and everyone in general must learn and know more about.
With so much of social media exposure it is extremely important on how to constrain on posting kids photos. I found your article very informative as you have detailed every possible on how to safeguard your kid. For me the point on tuning off the Metadata option is unknown and thanks to you now I know it.
Now being a mother of a toddler after reading this post I felt like its penned for me. I am not so experienced mom and there are many things that I should learn and understand from my fellow mom blogger friends like you. Thanks for opening my eyes about kids photo sharing on social media facts. I generally not prefer sharing even my pics much on social media and so so far never shared my kids photo. But here I want to add one point being a graphic designer is that watermark removing tools are available free online so watermarking the pic will not be of much protection in this case. But the remaining points you shared are very useful and i will definitely follow the same. Thank you once again.
Oh! I never knew about the watermark-removing tools. Thanks, Samata.
Need of the hour. A lot of people tend to overshare and kids are the most at risk. A lot of parents are unaware that images include location metadata that can be misused. I would also add that no matter what the child’s age, never share without consent.
I think after reading your post, we all must spread this awareness as much as we can. Now-a-days, parents don’t know how to tackle social media where they put their children and keep doing things that may prove fatal for their future also. Rightly, you mentioned that children may fall prey to cyberbullying and much more that may harm them. The collage idea you gave is amazing and helpful.
I share my kid’s oictures too. But as you mentioned keeping in check and not oversharing really helps. thanks for the many do’s and dont it would be really helpful
Such an insightful post. Many parents obsessed with sharing achievement, school functions video, photos, schedule everything. But they can’t see that they are putting them at risk. Turning off meta data is new for me. Thank you for golden information.
Such useful tips! I always refrain from posting my kids on SM. However many of my campaigns revolve around them, so I have to. Otherwise I never share their happy moments online. And we should always be wary of sharenting.
Very valid points you have made. Many parents don’t think about sharing pics of their children. With many turning influencers without any research, they are also pushing kids into doing things they may not like or worse kids emulating adults. I cringe every time someone shows me videos of kids dancing to raunchy numbers or posing like adults in full makeup.
Very vaild points. This is something that not just parents, but also everyone who is in contact with infants and toddlers should keep in mind. Especially liked your point about the collages. My sister-in-law has forbidden everyone in her family from clicking pictures of her 1-month-old son.
This is such an important post for parents to read and understand. Social media comes with its set of risks and especially more when our kids are involved. Specific info should always be hidden and their personal involvement should be kept to a minimum. They don’t need the exposure until they’re ready for it.
How informative post!
We unknowingly do make such mistakes, especially metadata one. We may leave clue behind for unwanted stalkers…These points I have shared in my friends and family groups. I am sure they will benefit from this one.
This is such an informative and helpful post, especially when we as bloggers involve our kids in all the pictures we take and upload in social media. The tips you have shared here are the need of the hour. Removing metadata is a new information to me and I shall look upon it. Thank you for creating an awareness against cyber-bullying and morphing by sharing tips on how to share our kids pictures.
This is scary to read that how people can misuse personal informations, family details from social media and harmful it can be. This post is very informative and an eye opener for sure. Thanks for sharing this post. Let me share it with my group too.
In these times when we all leave large digital footprints everywhere, one needs to be really careful when posting pictures of kids. As you have mentioned, one needs to be careful especially of the metadata and should pause before sharing.
The most needed post and the most relevance for present time where SM becomes place of views, likes and follows. Privacy is the best policy. 👌
There are so many pros and cons of social media and people misuse the most on social media. It’s so scary when we share kids’ pics over here but need to understand how important is to take precautions. Thanks for sharing this article.
This is very informative post for parents, being careful about other child pic is an important point which many of them forget. Due to this ignorance many families are unaware of the consequences.
Being in the digital age we parents tend to share pics of our kids sometime or the other. But we do need to be cautious on what when and where to share. Thanks for sharing this information
You provided valid points. Many parents don’t realise the danger and awareness of it is very much required.
Your post is important as well as the kind this society needs now.
Totally. Sometimes I wonder why people want the world to know where their kids are studying or why they want to deck their kids up and dance on songs like besharam rang (without any good moves or anything worth seeing except some cuteness). Hahahaha. But anyway God bless those kids and hope no harm comes to them because of their parents’ doings.
This is so to the point. I dont understand why now a days parents publicize their children on social media knowing the dangers of it. To share their daily routines is absolutely not fair for their privacy.
Somehow I strongly believe that sharing all private moments of the kids is an invasion of privacy. Once they grow up see their posts and if they don’t like it, 2e wouldn’t be able to do anything about it because it’s already there. As you said there should be a boundary
This is such a cool term Sharenting
Definitely will use it in the future
I applaud you for raising such an amazing issue which people consider frugal
I do follow most of these steps but your tip about turning off the metadata is new to me and seems very useful!