5 things to consider before posting your child (other people's children) on social media

The internet is a great place to create and store memories easily that you and many other people can revisit. However, apart from some family photos and videos, you may want to rethink social media and use other options like Google Photos and One Drive or even WhatsApp statuses for people closer to you.

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There are do’s and don’ts of posting photos of your child or children on social media. For example, consider asking your child’s permission before you post, and if they can't consent to that, it's probably a sign not to post them.

The act of "sharenting," or oversharing, for many parents, starts with an online announcement of their pregnancy complete with a sonogram and due date. Due to this disclosing far more information about their children than they realize, a child's or teenager's digital footprint now begins even before the child is born.

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Although family vlogging and posting your child online can bring in money for your family, there are numerous issues and risks to take into account before publishing your children's images or videos online. It's essential to be aware of the risks, but you shouldn't be afraid or feel forced to completely stop sharing.

Not including the highly dangerous deepfake creations, here are some subtle ways that disclosing personal information about your child online could potentially harm them.

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Posting your child on social media invades their privacy

While young children might not think twice about what their parents post about them on social media, as they get older, that may change.

Children begin to develop a sense of who they are as individuals and how the rest of the world perceives them, raising more privacy questions.

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When their parents post content about them on social media, particularly early childhood anecdotes, humorous photos, and updates on developmental and behavioural challenges, they may start to feel ashamed.

Sharing inappropriate content on social media can also give kids the impression that they don't have control over their bodies or values. Children don't have the chance to disagree with their parents when they post sensitive photos of bath time and other events on social media.

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Social media posts can be used for bullying

Parents should be worried about how other people may respond to the information they share about their children on social media.

Regardless of how much your child cares about old photos and stories about them on social media, others may be able to use that information as your child gets older to ridicule, insult, and even bully him or her.

It doesn't take much for a photo to transform from a private family joke to the subject of secondary school gossip.

Bullying is a possibility that is not limited to the people you know. Just take a look at the comment feeds of children's YouTube videos to get a sense of the vicious personalities of anonymous internet users.

Posting your child puts them at risk for digital kidnapping

Identity theft is one type of digital kidnapping. It happens when someone uses a child's image from social media to create new identities and names for the child, frequently claiming the child as their own.

Additionally, the photographs of your child may be taken and used for baby role-playing. If you're not familiar with baby role-playing, look up the hashtags #BabyRP, #AdoptionRP, and #KidRP on social media.

Baby role-players create accounts on social media sites and post stolen photos, adding captions that misrepresent the child in the pictures. Sometimes the stranger impersonates the child by replying to comments as the child or from the child's point of view.

This is yet another illustration of how simple it is to lose control over your child's identity when you publish information about them online.

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Your posts can attract dangerous people

Photos and videos of kids shared by their parents on social media occasionally appear on disturbing websites and forums, some of which are devoted to child pornography. It's easy to forget that social media posts can also offer bits of information that can assist people in identifying where a child lives, plays, and attends school.

Posting your child can affect their future

Once information is posted online, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to control it. Nobody can be stopped from taking a screenshot of your post and disseminating it.

Even though your deleted posts are no longer visible on your social media profiles, they may still be accessible on the servers that host the social media platforms and on internet archives.

In light of this, you should think about the potential effects your photos and stories may have on your child when he/she is much older.

Parents should consider how potential employers might respond if they discover certain sensitive child-related moments on social media. They should consider how their actions might affect their child if he or she decides to participate in politics or lead a more open life in the future.