Should My Kids Be All Over the Internet?
Derek Spanfelner
Relationship-builder -- Culture creator -- Brand messager -- People person
Like any parent that has grown up under the influence of the digital age, my children are everywhere. They're posing with zoo animals on Instagram, they're wrestling like young cubs on Youtube, and they're receiving the lion's share of affection from friends and family on my Facebook timeline. I can remember a day when social media was still new and entirely optional, when cautionary tales of privacy, especially for the sake of your children, were heeded more often than not. You never knew who would be out there, stalking your children in Cyberspace like a slowly-moving panel van, and therefore your guard remained high.
Nowadays, there is still concern, but it's more like an abstract extension of parental anxiety. It's 2015 and social media is inextricably a part of our lives, the primary mechanism for sharing those things that are most important to us (our kids) with the people that are most important to us (you know, the hundreds of people that you consider to be your "friends," which more than likely includes that creepy dude you knew back in high school who just so happens to currently live in a panel van. Coincidence? Probably). The good news is that the majority of these platforms have safeguards in place so that you are in control of who sees what you choose to share and can therefore be assured that your kids' names,faces, and personal information aren't readily available to unknown perpetrators of foul deeds. That being said, trusting any information to private companies is not a responsibility to be taken lightly. As the ACLU warns,
The things we do and say online leave behind ever-growing trails of personal information. With every click, we entrust our conversations, emails, photos, location information, and much more to companies like Facebook, Google, and Yahoo.
Unless you plan on moving to your own private island and swearing off internet service in exchange for a permanent tan, then this is the price you have to pay. But what happens when you start bringing your children into the public space?
For those of you who follow me, you may know that I do marketing and community-building at Learnivore. We launched the #CutestLearnivore contest on Sunday and the poster children of the campaign are (you guessed it) my own. The contest itself associates what it means to be a Learnivore with children in pursuit of what they love. Even better, it's for a great cause. For everyone who participates, we make a donation to the Boston Children's Museum, which does an incredible job providing learning experiences for kids of all ages in the Boston area.
I'm quite proud that my own children can stand as examples of the imagination, creativity, and fun we're inspiring with the #CutestLearnivore contest. They enjoy dressing up and showing off the things they love. They, like all kids, are the purest form of what it means to be always curious and always growing. And yet there's a small part of me, possibly unfounded, that wonders about everything I send out into the ether. It's less about who will snatch these pictures up and use them for devious purposes and more about control. If you're a company that uses social media, you want your campaign to go viral; if you're a parent, you always want to know who is using images of your children and why.
So what do you think? As a parent, would-be parent, grandparent, whatever, do you worry about what might happen to the media you share of your kids? What, specifically, concerns you? Or are you satisfied as long as you are able to censor what gets shared publicly (names, personal information, etc.)? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Derek Spanfelner is the Learnivore Head of Community. You can follow and message him on Learnivore or email him at Derek@Learnivore. If you'd like to participate in the #CutestLearnivore contest, then head over to the Learnivore Facebook page and post a picture of your adorable Learnivore (child, pet, adult dressed as a child or pet) on our timeline with the #CutestLearnivore hashtag so that we can donate to the Boston Children's Museum on your behalf and you may be eligible for the $100 prize!
Relationship-builder -- Culture creator -- Brand messager -- People person
9 年Kerry, thanks for sharing. At this point, my kids are too young to even be on social media, but this is definitely food for thought as they get older and the need for them to take responsibility of their online identities becomes more evident. My price, at this time at least, is that I'm happy to be associating them with something that I believe in and has objectively positive value. Using their images (and NOT personally identifying information) is okay with me. It's just when there's the possibility of their images being re-purposed for something I haven't agreed to or don't believe in, that's when issues arise. Kerry, I assumed Snapchat was for older kids/college students mostly because I associate it with being able to hide conversations or pictures from other people... how do you have any control over it? Do you just inform your kids of their responsibility and trust that they're doing the right thing?
Program Director at The Sapling School
9 年Interesting Derek, I'm a mom of 4. Only 1 my oldest has FaceBook, my (not so younger ones) have Instagram and snapchat. I too worry not only what they are exposed to but who is exposed to them. I think for each family it's different. Vi have friends who diary their kids on social media and ones like me barely share anything. I guess it's what you, the parent are comfortable with and how you, the parent explain social media to your children. It's part of their world, as well as yours and mine, so it shouldn't be shunned but interpreted per family. Like everything it does come at a cost... What's your price? Is my question.