Since I started blogging at the start of this year my online presence has suddenly become something which I am much more aware of and I realise that I need to give something a bit more thought……
How much of my life and that of my kids and family am I prepared to share online with strangers?
Until recently I haven’t given much thought to sharing pictures of my wonderful (and very cute I might add) children with family and friends via email and posting albums of the latest holiday or birthday party pictures on Facebook. I have loved being able to do this and have people from around the world – some who have never met my children – post their comments and congratulations. Now I have a blog and along with millions of other mommy bloggers worldwide I want to share my adorable kids with my readers. But do my kids want to be shared with you? At almost 5 and 1 years old they are much too young to give me their input on this subject now but in a few years time will they appreciate my ramblings about their private lives?
It’s confusing enough to try and work out what I want to share of myself online let alone what I can share about others… And how do I share my amateur photography skills with you when the vast majority of pics are of my little ones? There are so many different stances on this subject – some moms share names and details and post up pics of each milestone or even 20 of each daily activity! Others only reveal their kids through the pics but use nicknames and still other do the reverse – sharing the names and stories but not showing their kids’ faces. I enjoy reading blogs which use each one of these methods. I actually love seeing the beautiful photo’s of someones children as they help me to connect with that family and their story even more. But I am a mom with kids of my own browsing blogs for fun and inspiration – what of the other strangers out there – who knows what sorts lurk on the internet…..
Which brings me to another related topic, how do you protect your kids online? Parents of older kids will be better able to answer this as I have only allowed my son limited access to a few cartoon pages such as Bob the builder, Tractor Tom, CBeeBees. Do you have safety software installed, have you spoken to your kids about the dangers, do you monitor their time online, what sites are they allowed to visit, do they have a Facebook page, are you their ‘friend’ on Facebook? So much new technology to deal with…. Help!
Anyway I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. As a proud parent how do you share your kids online, if at all? So far I have taken the approach similar to Gwyneth Paltrow who has a LOT more to worry about as a celebrity with kids. As a mom like me she obviously wants to share her pride and joy with the world but prefers to do it in a creative way so as to avoid showing her kids’ faces. Here are some of her creative pics of Apple and Moses:
Do you think I am justified in protecting my kids’ identity online or just being a bit overdramatic? What boundaries do you have, if any? Please comment!
source for images: Babble
image source: 1) Lars Ploughmann
