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Would you believe me if I said I have never posted my kids’ pictures on Facebook? In an age where ‘sharenting’ is becoming increasingly common, it might surprise quite a few parents when one doesn’t. I’d love to post but for the insecurities that common sense suggests.
We love posting details about our lives on social media. Aw, but we’ve got the privacy settings in place, you might say. Are the privacy settings just enough to safeguard your children when you post their pictures online? Do you think in doing so you are keeping your children snug within your friends’ circle?
The trouble is we don’t know who, besides our friends, is looking at our pictures or other information. You see the pictures and info of strangers on your page, because they are friends of your friends. The same could happen with the photos that you are posting.
Moreover, what if your friend’s account is being used by someone else because they did not log out or someone else has access to it? What if your friend’s or your account is hacked? Here are a six things you must do without fail while positing pictures of your children on Facebook:
1. Don’t mention your children’s names
When you share your kid’s pictures with friends, it may not be a good idea to tag their names. Your friends know what names they have. They can spot your children in there. And your child’s full names? It’s not a school enrolment form, so don’t bother about putting the full name there. It’s not always cyber-criminals out there. You don’t want third party companies to access your child’s full name or biodata. What you could do is simply use a pet name in case you need to mention it.
2. Don’t tag your friends
When you tag your friends, their friends are likely to see the post. God forbid a malicious party out there who can sabotage your pictures.
3. Don’t mention your child’s birthdays on FB
Even if you post the birthday pictures, you don’t want to post what date it was.
4. Don’t mention the location of your kids
You are most likely with your kids on a vacation, but when you post their pictures, you don’t want to tell them where you are. Child predators just have a way around even when you accompany your children. You can post your holiday pictures once home.
5. Don’t mention where you live with your children
Don’t give hints to intruders or attackers. Plus if you are a single mom, this is something you need to be extra cautious about.
6. Don’t post pictures that could be problematic in the future
You take and post pictures of your babies who cannot disapprove of doing so because they are too small to give you their opinion. In this sense, you could be labeled the first culprits! Secondly, don’t post pictures that can affect your child’s confidence or self-respect when they grow up. No naked pictures of children, please! I don’t find that funny or cute. I find it rather robbing them of their respect. Plus when your children grow up, they don’t want to look at these pictures. If you have taken any pictures that are socially demoralizing, for instance, a fake tattoo with a derogatory slogan or a tattoo of a devil, you’d better not share it. Such pictures might curtail a few developmental prospects of your children when they grow up.
7. Don’t forget to log out after each session
And finally hit the log-out button, just in case some creepy person happens to copy all your pictures.
So, there are things you need to consider apart from your privacy settings if you want to safeguard your children’s pictures on Facebook.
