Close X
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
ADVT 
Tech

Do Parents Share Excessively About Kids On Social Media?

Darpan News Desk IANS, 17 Mar, 2015 02:37 PM
    You love to share the pics and videos of your kid's antics on social media. But are you ending up sharing too much? A lot of parents say yes.
     
    University of Michigan National Poll on Children's Health found that more than half of the mothers and one-third of fathers are discussing child health and parenting on social media.
     
    Nearly three quarters of parents said social media makes them feel less alone.
     
    But how far is too far when it comes to crossing the boundaries between public and private life?
     
    "By the time children are old enough to use social media themselves, many already have a digital identity created for them by their parents," said Sarah J. Clark from the University of Michigan.
     
    "On one hand, social media offers today's parents an outlet they find incredibly useful, on the other hand, some are concerned that over sharing may pose safety and privacy risks for their children," Clark added.
     
    When sharing parenting advice on social media, common topics included getting kids to sleep (28 percent), nutrition and eating tips (26 percent), discipline (19 percent), daycare/preschool (17 percent) and behaviour problems (13 percent), according to the poll that surveyed a national sample of parents of children aged zero to four.
     
    However, parents also recognised potential pitfalls of sharing information about their children, with nearly two-thirds concerned someone would learn private information about their child or share photos of their child.
     
    More than half also worried that when older, their child may be embarrassed by what was shared.
     
    "There's potential for the line between sharing and over sharing to get blurred. Parents may share information that their child finds embarrassing or too personal when they are older but once it's out there, it's hard to undo," Clark said.
     
    "The child won't have much control over where it ends up or who sees it," Clark added.
     
    Three-quarters of parents polled also pointed to "oversharenting" by another parent, including parents who shared embarrassing stories, gave information that could identify a child's location, or posted photos perceived as inappropriate.
     
    Stories of sharenting gone wrong have been rampant, with one of the most extreme examples included a phenomenon called "digital kidnapping" reported earlier this year.
     
    Parents were shocked to learn that strangers were "stealing" their kids online photos and resharing them as if the children were their own.
     
    In other cases, children's photos have become the target of cruel jokes and cyber bullying.
     
    Among the most notorious cases in recent years was that of a Facebook group that made fun of "ugly" babies.

    MORE Tech ARTICLES

    Australian varsity signs MoU with two oldest IITs

    Australian varsity signs MoU with two oldest IITs
    In a bid to strengthen relationship with India in the areas of research and teaching, an Australian university has signed agreements with two Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

    Australian varsity signs MoU with two oldest IITs

    Magnets to power your fridge!

    Magnets to power your fridge!
    Within a decade, we could be using much more energy-efficient refrigerators than what we have today as researchers have now identified a new “universal” property of metamagnets, unleashing its potential applications for several items of everyday use.

    Magnets to power your fridge!

    Amazing! 'Gesture' keyboard lets you swipe words in air!

    Amazing! 'Gesture' keyboard lets you swipe words in air!
    Based partly on sensor technology built for the Microsoft Kinect games, the keyboards of the future could let users manipulate data without sitting down and typing in one letter at a time.

    Amazing! 'Gesture' keyboard lets you swipe words in air!

    Learn how to limit screen time for kids

    Learn how to limit screen time for kids
    It is no longer just the television or the computer that young children are glued to these days as smart phones and tablets have made it even more difficult for parents to limit the screen time for their kids.

    Learn how to limit screen time for kids

    Smart phone can help you shed weight better!

    Smart phone can help you shed weight better!
    Smart phone applications can help dieters integrate healthy behaviour changes into their daily lives, researchers from University of Missouri (MU) Columbia have revealed.

    Smart phone can help you shed weight better!

    Now, a pill to test water quality at home!

    Now, a pill to test water quality at home!
    Want to know if the water you are drinking at home is safe? You could soon test the water quality on your own instead of shipping it into a laboratory as researchers have developed a way to pack the laboratory into a simple pill.

    Now, a pill to test water quality at home!