When I started blogging Emmy was only 18 months old and it was an easy way to share our activities with family who are dotted all over the country and even the world.
Now she is 7 and a half I have become more conscious of what I share about the children and where that information is put.
I have tight security settings for my personal Facebook as that’s where I share the most pictures. I used to accept friend requests from all bloggers even if I’d not met but now I prefer not to. I’ve cleared out those I’ve never met and don’t talk to, they have no need to be there and can happily follow my blog FB page if they so wish.
I’m very aware not to show the kid’s school logos on the blog or anywhere on social media, I remove those before posting, crop out and blur any street signs if they are visible. I deliberately don’t mention their school by name, there is no need to have that out there.
I share pictures of the children, it’s difficult being a parent blogger to avoid this and they feature in my videos.
I would never share naked pictures of the children or ones in the bath or half-naked. I try to safe guard my children the best I can in a job which sees me sharing various aspects of our daily life just so publicly. Â Even when working as a Huggies DryNites Ambassador I wouldn’t show pictures of Harry wearing the pull-up pyjama pants and featured them with in the pack, on the bed or on his/my head instead.
As the children grow up they can choose which parts of our lives are shared and how much they feature but until that point I will remain respectful of their innocence and remember that everything shared online can be found and read by them at a later date.
We live in a world dominated by social media now and I do believe that it has a place, for most things that is……I do NOT think my children’s school opening social media channels on IG, Twitter and FB is appropriate however especially after the HUGE safeguarding issue which arose last week when we discovered their FB was in fact open for all to see and they shared details of school events meant for parents eyes only. Details which showed when the school would be open to all for a sports event meaning that anyone who wanted could in fact just show up.
This just proved what I had feared all along, it has no place being on social media, and the irony is…..the school gave a talk on internet safety recently and how to keep our children safe.
How do you protect your children in this digital world?
I don’t post too much on social media generally about my family.
Such a great post. Everyone should be careful on what they post in social media.
Thanks very much x
I don’t post my daughter’s photo or name on my blog, and would never mention her school. My personal FB and Instagram are both private. It’s scary how much info you can access about people online.
I think because I came into blogging with older children and bullying was more in my mind and protecting them from that, I have always been a lot more cautious than most about what I share online. I constantly see photos of naked children on people’s social media and blogs and sadly that shouldn’t matter, they are just children and it is innocent, but obviously there are people out there who use these images and that makes me feel sick.
Congrats on the new blog by the way 😉
Stevie x
I used to post a lot about my son in his first year, it was my way of documenting the little things. But now that he’s four I rarely post pictures of him and think I’ll keep it that way. I definitely don’t think schools should use social media either!
It’s so important to protect our children’s safety online. I don’t share school details either.
God that’s really scary about the schools Facebook! I’m pretty new to blogging and my oldest boy is only 18 months at the moment. But possibly sharing too much is something that I worry about often.
As you say it’s difficult not to share information when you’re a parent blogger. Our school has social media accounts but they are very good with it and you can opt out of any child being put on them etc
Full agree with this post, the internet is such a dangerous place for children
I’m very careful on what I share and don’t share anything that could upset or embarrass him in the future. I don’t use my personal Facebook profile at all, friends and family can get updates and photos by visiting calling or texting
I had a huge issue withthe internet when my 8 year old daughter came home crying to say that the teacher had told her and her friend off for looking at naked ladies on the computer- after contacting the other childs parent we rushed off to the school the following day to confront the teacher – he and another male teacher took us into a room and said the girls were looking up fruit images on google image for a project and had brought up porn and he has told them off -the girls said they were typing in different fruits and the pictures had come up (The teachers thought it was funny and we got very angry with them). The head teacher came back and she took over the meeting and was horrified and google image was removed as a source of pictures for projects. However I think other schools still use it and it would be advisable for parents to check this.
trouble with social media is peer pressure, even putting blocks in place is still not enough as certain kids are more tech savvy than us
That is very true
I agree with you on so many issues. I think some people do not ‘think’ what they are sharing as it is just looking cute/funny/great – it is a scary thought that nothing ever goes away.
I never post naked or half naked of my kids either, I don’t check in on FB either. I always check in after i left that place or after i got home. just to make sure. x
it’s always a dilemma for us as bloggers and as parents generally about how much to share. Totally agree with you re schools! It actually annoys me how many have open PTA pages and things like that on fb.
I am also incredibly conscious of what I share. I think your rule of thumb is a good balance ? it’s something so many people don’t think twice about, and it can be so difficult to find a balance.
I think I do. I’m trying to cut down.
I super careful when it comes to this especially after seeing that Barclays advert. Can never be too careful.
My daughter is very selective about what she posts online
Social media can be great for getting back in touch with lost friends, etc, but I don’t think a lot of people think about the bigger implications. I never put anything personal out there, once it’s on the internet, that’s it!