Think Before You Post: The Problem With 'Sharenting'

I actively follow a huge number of influencers on social media (I’d prefer not to share the actual number, if you don’t mind…) and I’ve noticed an increasingly presence of kids in my Facebook and Instagram feed. Now, helpfully these pictures are not so much annoying as to force me using apps like Unbaby.me, which replaces the incessant pictures of your friend's babies with arguably much cooler stuff like corgi dog or, if you prefer, bacon. But anyway, I found this ‘new trend’ a bit weird and – if I really have to say that – risky. Since social media has become an integral part of our life, also that initially reluctant group aged 35 onwards, has quickly became more comfortable sharing their thoughts with strangers. Consequentially, when they entered parenthood, has seemed natural to share also that part of their daily life. Maybe too much. Or maybe just in the wrong way. Looking for some information online, I came across this new term: sharenting. This neologism has been coined to describe the overuse of social media by parents to share content based on their children, such as baby pictures or details of their children's activities and has become a popular subject of debate.

But, to be fair this is not only an issue related to the influencers’ ecosystem. I’m sure that everyone has at least on embarrassing parent on Facebook, sharing inconvenient pictures of their young children’s first smile, first steps, first poop…Well, you got the point. But let me be clear. I don’t think those parents want to deliberately embarrass their children, quite the opposite in fact. They’re proud. Ok, perhaps in a weird, unusual and even a little creepy way, but it’s a kind of visceral love.

However, that’s not the point. The problem occurs when there is an overexposure, related to privacy agreements and consensus, which has begun to acquire a serious proto-legal tinge in the last years. The question here is: how much is too much? The limit is really fleeting. Sharenting, in fact, could be seen as a double-edged sword. What for these proud parents seems just a way to say ‘Hey look at my lovely child.’, actually is a garnished cover to hide a universe littered with negative consequences.

From an ethical perspective, sharenting exposes children to the larger digital world without their consent. On one hand, posting about your child's daily moment could put them in a tight spot, either in terms of embarrassment, future discrimination or bullying issues, but– frankly - those are the less immediately frightening consequences. On the other hand, with those pictures, posts and funny videos, parents are sharing much more information that they even realize, make the kids a perfect target for crimes we don’t even want to think about.

However, the other side of – the same- coin is, to some extent, linked to this new digital era of envy; we are continuously inundated the myth of perfect life fostered by social media. Career envy, travel envy, holiday envy...didn't seem to be enough. Now, the next level is children envy. These glimpses of daily cheerful moments often do little more than show off a perfect reality, which actually is just an impeccable instant during an otherwise stressful day.

The truth is somewhere in between and find a balance is not always that simple, but it’s really crucial, now even more than ever, to avoid that those kids have ‘sharents’ instead of parents.