Baby Photos on Social Media: Dangers and What You Should Never Post
Pretty much everyone by now is well aware of the negative side of using social media. While it can build connections between people, social media also creates certain health and safety risks.
Numerous previous studies have proven that social media has a huge impact on a person’s mental and emotional well-being. It can make you feel inadequate as you watch your peers travel around the world, buy expensive goods, run their own successful businesses, or get a promotion. While scrolling Instagram, you might find yourself experiencing FOMO (fear of missing out), which can trigger anxiety and lower self-esteem. Moreover, it can expose you to cyberbullying, a common experience among young people on the internet.
In addition, the internet is teeming with bad actors who are all looking for unsuspecting victims to steal money and information, invade their privacy, and manipulate. Adults fall prey to scams, hacking, identity theft, and even cyberbullying. Kids, who are more pliable, are at a much greater risk.
Sharenting
Every time you use any social media platform, you forfeit your own privacy. Your posts, online activities, photos, videos, and messages are mined for data that will be used for advertising and, increasingly, voter manipulation.
When adults go on social media and share information about themselves, they do it of their own volition. However, children could not consent to it. Whenever adults post photos, videos, or information about their kids online, certain risks are tied to it.
Posting a photo of your child on Instagram or Facebook may seem harmless, but, in reality, it is not. Once it gets on the internet, it can be extracted and used by strangers to their own wishes. Even if the account is private, there are ways for content to be leaked. Someone who follows you can take a screenshot of the private content. If the phone of one of your followers gets stolen, strangers will also get access to your posts without your consent.
Children are also more vulnerable to identity theft. Fraudsters can take their information to purchase financial products.
Then, there is the problem of data that social media platforms collect from users. In many cases, technology companies have troves of data about children even before they are born. Being online from the day they were born can negatively impact children psychosocially throughout their lives. One possible scenario is when a bully finds a rather embarrassing childhood photo that can be used against them.
A survey from 2010 revealed that about 92 percent of all 2-year-olds from across the United States have an online presence.
Parents should be careful of what they share about their children online, including in private social media accounts.
On Photo Editing
The proliferation of photo editing apps has been accused of creating self-esteem issues and insecurities among young people. However, it is very common nowadays for social media users to retouch their images to achieve their desired appearance before posting online.
It can be assumed that some parents may be using the same apps on their children’s photographs.
Editing photos of children is not inherently bad. Photographers use newborn photo-editing services to improve the quality of the image by color-correcting and removing flaws that they did not notice during the shoot.
However, excessive photo editing that changes the way a child looks should be avoided. Many parents are using apps or paying professionals to whiten their children’s teeth, remove scars, even out skin tone, and make other improvements. Childhood photos are meant to capture this very fleeting moment of their lives. Parents are deleting these precious memories by editing photos excessively, no matter how awkward and embarrassing they may be.
Moreover, experts warn that excessive photo editing may one day mess up children’s self-image.
On Bath Time or Potty Photos
Photos of children in the bath or toilet are cute, but they should never be posted on social media. It is best to keep them in a photo album at home rather than uploaded online, where malicious people can access and steal them.
Moreover, it can be a cause of shame for children when they grow up.
On Private Information
It is every parent’s wish to keep their children safe. However, when you disclose their private information online, they are exposed to myriads of potential dangers.
Parents should never share online information includes their full names, address, who their babysitter is, where they are at present, and where they go to school. Parents should be careful about photos and videos that may give off information about the child’s whereabouts. If the wrong person gets ahold of these details, they could contact or go to the child.
Children should be protected, both offline and online. Parents should always carefully consider the impact of their actions on the safety and well-being of their children.
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