Oversharing Alert: Stop Before You Post
In real life, I have no filter. You may think that I don't have a filter here in chaos, but I do. I don't post pictures of my kids and I am sensitive to the history I am creating for them here in cyberspace.
But I'm not perfect. There is the possibility that they will stumble across something I have written one day and feel embarrassed or angry or annoyed that my job was to tell stories about them.
Because I live in social media I am more aware of the implications of exposing my kids, or maybe I'm just not a famewhore. But as I have said before, I would never post a video of my children in the hopes that it would go viral.
But people do and because funny videos of kids are on the "most watched" section of many websites out there, many children are being watched, laughed at and immortalized on the web.
To which I say: Stop oversharing!
This article in the Globe brings up some good points about the perils of posting too much about your kids. The photos, the videos, the silly anecdotes. It needs to stop.
As one writer said:
“Parents think only for the moment and want to share cute anecdotes with their friends,” says Judy Arnall, a Calgary-based parenting expert and author of The Last Word on Parenting Advice. “Releasing any kind of information to the Internet is like squeezing a tube of toothpaste – easy to get out and impossible to get back in.”
A parenting expert wonders if it is a sign of our narcissistic society that parents want their kids to be constantly noticed, and are pushing them to centre stage.
Is it that dire? Kids are already emulating the video culture. They are busy posting photos and videos of themselves as soon as they can figure out the right button. Is that how we want them to live? With the feeling that they are constantly being watched - that their viral moment is around the corner?
A part of me thinks that is just the reality of the next generation's life. They will have no consideration of privacy and will always assume that they are being filmed and viewed and "Liked".
But I'm not sure it has to start happening right now.
Here is one of the top videos from the weekend. Is this what you want you daughter on the Today Show for?
Do you share videos and funny photos of your kids? Do you think you overshare?
Want more chaos? Last year, I was frazzled and mired in mom guilt.
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