By: Jamie Collins
Let’s be honest: judging others is easy, and I’ve been guilty of it too. However, it wasn’t until I began to notice strangers recognizing my kids in public that I truly understood the extent of my oversharing habits. According to a University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll, I’m definitely not the only one. It turns out that a significant number of parents are sharing way too much about their children online. Over half of mothers and one-third of fathers surveyed reported discussing their children’s health and parenting experiences on social media.
But where do we draw the line between sharing and oversharing? Was that photo I posted of my son’s potty training mishaps too revealing? Let’s not answer that!
“By the time children are of age to navigate social media, many already have a digital footprint curated by their parents,” states Lisa Monroe, M.P.H., associate director of the C.S. Mott Poll. “The boundary between sharing and oversharing can often be unclear. Parents might post information that their children might find embarrassing or too personal when they grow older, and once it’s out there, it’s nearly impossible to retract. The child ends up with little control over where that information goes or who sees it.”
Or do they? In a clever twist, our kids seem to be opting out of the parental oversharing spectacle we’ve so carefully orchestrated for them. Instead of hanging out on platforms like Facebook—my 12-year-old claims, “Facebook is where old people go to post cringeworthy pics”—more than 11 million young users have abandoned the site since 2011. Even Instagram has become outdated, as parents flock to it with their “pics or it didn’t happen” mindset.
So where are the kids headed? They’re gravitating towards platforms where we’re not, such as SnapChat and Oovoo, where they can create and manage their online identities more securely, sharing content that is fleeting and less permanent. It’s a smart move—our kids are effectively making our oversharing obsolete by simply tuning out.
Time to shift our focus—maybe we should start working on those belfies!
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In summary, while sharing our parenting experiences online can foster connection, it’s essential to be mindful of the boundaries we set. Our children deserve agency over their digital identities, and as they carve out their own online spaces, we may need to rethink our approach to sharing.
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