Sharenting: Are you oversharing?

I remember the overwhelming pride I felt as a new mom. I wanted to share every tiny moment of joy and every adorable milestone. It felt normal, even expected. But as I learned more about online safety, I started questioning more: Who else is seeing these posts? Can someone use what I am posting about my child against them? 

How do I balance being mindful of sharenting with the desire to pridefully share my child with others? 

Let’s open up that incredibly important conversation!

The Risks of Oversharing

I had an amazing conversation about this with Sarah from @mom.uncharted (you can catch clips of it on my social media here), who’s been deep diving into this topic for years. Here are some key messages we discussed:

💡 Privacy concerns: Once something is online, we lose control over how it’s used. Innocent photos can be taken, altered, or even misused. In this day and age, and with so many AI tools, just one photo of your child’s face can provide the opportunity for a predator to create deepfake child sexual abuse material.

💡 Monetization of kids: Social media platforms profit off of child influencers- and so do exploitative people. Those saves on a cute TikTok video of a child dancing are not all well-meaning people who seek happy videos of puppies and babies. 

💡 Digital footprint start early: Many kids have an online presence before they can even say their name. What happens when they grow up and want control over their own story? We also can’t expect our kids to listen to our rules about information sharing when we are disregarding them ourselves. 

How to Share Safely

✅ Pause before you post: Would you be okay if this photo stayed online forever? If not, maybe keep it private. Think who would have access to what you are posting- is this on a private account just for close friends and family that you trust?

✅ Teach digital literacy: Help kids understand online privacy, even from a young age. This requires modelling that behaviour ourselves.

✅ Encourage open conversations: Make sure your child knows they can come to you if something online makes them uncomfortable. Demonstrate digital consent by asking them before posting something about them online.

This isn’t about guilt, it’s about awareness.

We have the power to make more informed choices for our kids’ digital futures.

If you’re ready to start the conversation, leave a 💜 on mine and Sarah’s conversation. Let’s spread this message of safety, together.

Rooting for you,

Tiana

Founder, Exploitation Education