mom's law blog

I have a Facebook page and that’s it. I don’t Tweet. I don’t post to Instagram. I have no clue how Snap Chat works. I don’t have much time to waste on these “time sucks” or I would probably check them all out to see what they are about. I get the pressure from my friends to sign up for Instagram or Twitter so I can follow them and keep up with what they are doing and so they can keep up with what I am doing. To that I ask “why don’t you call me or text me or stop by and actually see me?” Oh, because that would require the face-to-face human interaction that we are slowly losing as a result of all of these social media pressures we are bombarded with everyday. I was surprised at the increased amount of pressure to post pictures of Little Bit on Facebook. Except for her picture from the day she was born while we were still in the hospital, I will not post her picture to my Facebook page. People ask why we don’t post her picture? This is why. 

I don’t want to see 642 pictures of your kid, why would I subject you to look at mine? Don’t get me wrong, Little Bit is freakin’ adorable! I may be biased, but she is pretty stinkin’ cute. So cute I can’t help but wonder what person wouldn’t want to see a picture of her gorgeous face? Friends and family know they are more than welcome to stop by and see her any time they want. We live so close to family that all of her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins get to see her often. For the family who live out state, they just call or shoot over a quick text and check on Little Bit and ask for an updated photo. I am more than happy to oblige and send the cutest picture I have on my camera phone at that moment. I don’t barrage Facebook with a multiple pictures on a daily basis of the “cute” things Little Bit is doing at that moment. Although I may have captured her silly antics for my and my husband’s own enjoyment, I don’t need to post Little Bit’s first food, her first spit up, her cute toes, her cute toes from a different angle, or her toes from the angle that includes her little hands too. It’s just not necessary. For those of our friends and family who want to see her, they need only ask. For the sake of my “friends” newsfeeds, I will spare the overkill of baby photos.

To that end, who wants strangers looking at their child? Once you post your child’s photo to a social media site it’s like releasing a helium balloon into the air. You keep it in your line of site for a little while, but eventually is escapes you and you have no idea where it ends up. Although I have my Facebook page set to the highest privacy settings and my “friends” are people I know, I can’t tell what those “friends” do with my photos. I have also noticed that when one of my Facebook “friends” “likes” a post of one of their friends who I have no association with, I can then see their post. I don’t think it is too far fetched to think of a glitch occurring that may allow this to occur with my private photo settings. People share way too much on social media these days such as addresses, when they are going out of town, how they just bought a new expensive gift. I hate to be cynical, but all of this information is ripe for the taking for any criminal who cares to “research” on Facebook. For my own sanity and safety, I will not put my daughter’s picture on Facebook.

Lastly, what if Little Bit wants to be a C.I.A. agent or an undercover agent of some sorts and because her parents decided to post 642 pictures a year during her childhood, that option is no longer an option? I know, I know, it’s far-fetched, but you get the idea. Just as people say “you can’t pick your parents” kids also can’t choose their parent’s choices. The things we as parents choose to do and not do on behalf of our children could have repercussions into their adult life. As parents we like to think we would bring no harm to our child, but sometimes we don’t realize we are harming them. For the future of my daughter, I won’t post her photo to any social media site (including this one) unless and until she is old enough to make the decision on her own to be a part of it.