Are you a SHARENT? Researchers warn doting parents can cause privacy problems by oversharing their child's pictures online
- More than half of mothers and one-third of fathers discuss parenting online
- Two-thirds concerned strangers could learn private information about child
- Team warn 'oversharing may pose safety and privacy risks for children'
Every new parent is desperate to share pictures of their offspring online.
However, researchers has warned against sharing too much - and say a new generation of 'sharents' could cause problems for their offspring.
They say not only could the images prove highly embarrassing in later life - they could also lead to privacy and security problems.
Researchers warn that by the time they are old enough to use social media themselves, children will already has a large presence online thanks to their parents.
A University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health found more than half of mothers and one-third of fathers discuss child health and parenting on social media - and nearly three quarters of parents saying social media makes them feel less alone.
However, the researchers say that for some, sharing is too much.
'By the time children are old enough to use social media themselves many already have a digital identity created for them by their parents,' says Sarah Clark, M.P.H., associate director of the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health and associate research scientist in the U-M Department of Pediatrics.
'Sharing the joys and challenges of parenthood and documenting children's lives publicly has become a social norm so we wanted to better understand the benefits and cons of these experiences.
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'On one hand, social media offers today's parents an outlet they find incredibly useful,' said Clark.
'On the other hand, some are concerned that oversharing may pose safety and privacy risks for their children.'
Nearly 70 percent of parents said they use social media to get advice from other more experienced parents and 62 % said it helped them worry less.
However, parents also recognized 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.
Nearly 70 percent of parents said they use social media to get advice from other more experienced parents and 62 % said it helped them worry less.
More than half also worried that when older, their child may be embarrassed by what was shared.
'These networks bring parents together in ways that weren't possible before, allowing them to commiserate, trade tips and advice, share pride for milestones and reassure one another that they're not alone,' Clark says.
'However, there's potential for the line between sharing and oversharing to get blurred.
'Parents may share information that their child finds embarrassing or too personal when they're older but once it's out there, it's hard to undo.
'The child won't have much control over where it ends up or who sees it.'
Stories of sharenting gone wrong have been rampant in the news, with one of the most extreme examples including a phenomenon called 'digital kidnapping' reported on earlier this year.
Parents were shocked to learn that strangers were 'stealing' their kids' online photos and re-sharing them as if the children were their own.
In other cases, children's photos have become the target of cruel jokes andcyberbullying.
Among the most notorious cases in recent years was that of aFacebook group that made fun of 'ugly' babies.
'Parents are responsible for their child's privacy and need to be thoughtful about how much they share on social media so they can enjoy the benefits of camaraderie but also protect their children's privacy today and in the future,' Clark says.
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