Sharenting: what it is and why it would be better to avoid it
Parents have always tended to show off their children, especially the youngest ones, as prestigious trophies. How many times have you come across a new mum or a new dad eager to show you the latest photos of their puppies at all costs? Today this habit has moved to social media and has also taken on a name: sharenting. More and more often, in fact, Facebook and Instagram message boards are transformed into public domain memory albums, where images of minors are shared too lightly. To prevent our children from running into the dangers of the network, read this article and find out what precautions to take and why it would be better to mitigate our need for sharenting.
Before reading, watch this video and find out what are the phrases to never say to our children!
The meaning of sharenting
Sharenting is an Anglicism that originates from the crasis between the English terms "share" and "parenting". But what is it about? Sharenting is a rather common habit among parents of the new millennium and consists in the compulsive publication on social networks by mum and dad of photos and videos portraying their children, especially when very young. This practice has taken hold to such an extent that a new expression has to be coined to identify it, which recently even ended up on Collins, one of the most authoritative of English dictionaries.
The ultrasound, the first steps, the loss of the first baby tooth, in short, more and more often, the Facebook and Instagram profiles of many parents are transformed into a sort of social documentary in which it is possible to monitor the growth of their children.
Since this is an increasingly topical issue nowadays, the IT journalist and communication expert Gianluigi Bonanomi found it necessary to open the debate also in Italy and he succeeded thanks to his training book entitled “Sharenting. Parents and Risks of Online Overexposure, "where she provides advice and information that parenting figures often lack when it comes to social media.
Why do parents sharenting?
As they say in Naples, “Every scarrafone is beautiful" "a mamma soja". In short, parents, but especially mothers, tend to publish photos and post videos of their children especially for a desire to exhibit as they are convinced that their uniqueness deserves to be shared in the public square as well as their immeasurable pride. Starting from here, it is clear that another of the reasons that push mom and dad to practice sharenting is due to the sometimes obsessive need to receive approvals and consents in the form of likes and comments on social networks. These, aware of the effect that children's images can have on people, continually publish content about them to receive "likes" and attention. At the same time, sharenting is a direct consequence of the historical period we are living in, the digital age in which the dominance of influencers gives rise in some (many) of us the irrepressible desire to share every aspect of our life with others, canceling any type of filter and privacy claim.
What are the risks?
Although it may seem apparently harmless, sharenting is a phenomenon not to be underestimated and to be treated with due caution. In fact, putting online images that portray our children can have important consequences, even in the long term, which we often tend to ignore when we select a photo to post on social networks. Below, we list what may be the main dangers related to sharenting so as to become aware of it and act more wisely:
The first problematic aspect linked to sharenting is undoubtedly that of privacy. The continuous sharing of private images means that everyone can have access to a substantial part of our life. In this sense, the fact that children are not aware or consequently consenting to the repertoire posted over the years by parents on social networks deserves consideration. Therefore, when they grow up, they could turn out to be opposed to the presence on the web of material that sees them as protagonists. Sometimes it happens that adolescents are so embarrassed by this public digital archive that they even bring lawsuits against their parents, guilty of violating their right to privacy, thus forcing them to remove any images that they deem a threat to them. of their reputation. Furthermore, providing sensitive data on social platforms could expose them to possible identity theft.
Sharenting poses a threat not only to privacy, but also to the safety of children. Spasmodically sharing images and sensitive information can expose our children to great dangers and, above all, to the attention of malicious people who, drawing on posts naively uploaded by parents on social networks, are able to find child pornography material for free.
Furthermore, when we are convinced that we want to post the life of our children on social networks, let's remember that one day they will become teenagers and could end up in the crosshairs of cyberbullies, who, finding an old photo of them, perhaps funny, online, could exploit it to mock and humiliate them. .
In general, although the intentions of mom and dad may be genuine and completely understandable, it would be advisable for them to "detoxify" from social networks to set a good example for their children, otherwise there is a risk that they too, once they grow up , spend too much time on the phone.
Useful tips for mom and dad
And after explaining the risks behind sharenting, here are some tips on how to get around them and protect our children:
- Be aware of the dangers present online.
- Moderate your use of social networks.
- Enjoy the moments without becoming obsessed with the desire to share.
- Avoid posting photos in which the faces or private parts of the little ones are framed.
- Make your accounts private so as to skim the potential audience and share your content only with trusted and authorized followers.
- Raise parents' awareness on the issue.
- Put yourself in your children's shoes and realize the discomfort that their actions could generate in them once they grow up.
