I like to share pictures of my kid. I know that you like sharing pictures of yours too. We all love to see photos of kids taking their first steps, jumping on a trampoline and swimming in the ocean. There is something special about sharing how a little person experiences the simple pleasures of life for the first time. It is in a way magical. Then there are pictures of your daughter with her finger in her nose in mid tantrum. That happens too.
Of course you want to take pictures of those moments to keep forever. But just because they are great family moments, does not mean they should be posted on social media. Here is a list of five types of pictures you will want to avoid posting to social media.
1) Group Pictures - This one may be a surprise to you, but it got me once. My son dressed up as Captain America, his best bud and another friend were also dressed as Avengers. It was an awesome picture so I posted it to Instagram. Then my wife saw it. She let me know that just because our son is in the photo does not give us the right to post the faces of the two other boys in the shot. She was absolutely right. While I know the parents of the other two boys in the photo, I didn’t know their specific circumstances. As an example, you don’t want to be the reason an abusive husband finds his wife and son who fled the state from him. Be considerate of who else is in your kid’s photos.
2) Potty Time - Yea going to the potty for the first time is a big deal, but please as a user of social media, I don’t want to see this. Neither does anyone else. You have to remember that any picture shared today is going to live on in cyberspace forever. So when your kid is elected President of the United States, don’t let the news get a photo of her on the potty for her inauguration day.
3) Bath Time - Bath time is a lot of fun for the small kids. These photos you can share with your family and close friends, but don’t post them online. Photos of kids nude or partially nude can be embarrassing for them when they grow up. And you don’t want these photos and videos somehow ending up with child pornographers. (That is a bigger problem than you think.)
4) Location details - We all love to take photos and tag our location in them. It’s a fun way to see what others are posting in the same place we are. However, I recently saw a friend post a picture of her daughter's first day at school and tagged the school in the photo. This mom is a public personality. My first thought was that a deranged fan now knows where her daughter is going to be every day. This hypothetical deranged fan also knows where and when the daughter will be vulnerable. So please consider not geotagging your photos.
If you want to turn off the geotagging settings on your iPhone follow these steps: Settings>Privacy>Location Services>Camera>Off. This works for the iPad as well. Android users open the camera app and click on settings. Then scroll down until you see geotagging or a similar option. Turn it off.
5) Photos showing their full names - Your daughter just won the science fair. Great! So you take a picture of her standing next to her baking soda volcano holding the certificate. But the certificate shows her full name, grade and school. Not good. All of this information can be misused by someone. Keeping your child’s personal information off the internet is paramount to keeping them safe now and the future.
