Just over two years ago I wrote a post about why I will never post my daughter’s face online.
Nothing has changed, you won’t see my kid’s face online, or know her name, at least not on my profiles.
BiP (Baby in Provence) is 4 and a half now. A huge fan of selfies, being filmed, making dance videos – you name it. But they are all OURS!
A few years ago I was accused of being a fake mummy blogger because I didn’t show my daughter’s face online – I even had people ask me if she had a physical deformity, which is why I wasn’t showing her face. I was stunned. No. She’s perfectly fine, adorable, a smart cookie and a real firecracker – it’s actually hard for me NOT to share publicly what she gets up to! Inspite of the scorn I still got voted #5 of the Circle of Moms European Blogs.
Not to repeat what I wrote 2 years ago, but BiP one day may hate her name. She may cringe at pictures of herself but she has the choice as to where they appear!
And if you ever need a reason to reconsider what you share online then Take This Lollipop.
Last time I shared this with a friend she deleted every picture from her social media accounts of her children.
It’s easy, we can do it in a second. But is it necessary?
One mother had her Instagram profile taken down for a fairly innocent pic of her toddler’s belly and it sparked a big media storm.
I was interviewed – click the pic to view (and the headline was off but hey, sensational reporting!)
It’s too easy to snap a pic an upload today. But we don’t really know who is looking nor what they are doing with the images.
Do I need to see your kid’s genitals? – NO
Do I need to see your kid’s face covered in cake/food/poop/some random crap – NO
Do I need to see how much your kids epically f-ed up something – probably NO but I’d LOL! I
If you posted it I guess you might be ok with deeming them idiots for eternity.
See how it works?
In this digital age where most things have an archive and a history, do we really want everything we posted about our kids available for years to come?
Maybe you do.
I chose not to and will uphold it until she’s old enough to read and understand.
It will be an interesting journey from my side (and I look forward to when BiP is old enough to fully embrace her own online presence).
We all have the choice as to what we post, how much me share and to think for our kids.
I don’t judge those who share pics of their kids and I often like them, as often as like cat pictures.
What do you think? Do you share your kid’s photos freely? Or do you do censor?
Hi Ameena,
I’m with you on this. I admire that you are respecting the feelings your daughter may have in the future when she looks back on your blog. “She may cringe at pictures of herself but she has the choice as to where they appear!” When we are including photos/info about our families, it’s not the same as sharing about yourself, much as our family members (especially our children ) feel like they are OURS.
Good for you!.
Lori
I share some facial photos on my personal account to family and friends, and block the photo albums from strangers. I do have avatars with the whole family.
However, on my blogs I don’t show faces or share names. I keep my personal and my blogs separate — I feel I can be freer with expression that way. I don’t feel it is necessary to even show my face, and the control over who sees blog photos is much less. At most it is partial profile, but mostly heads cut off or close ups of hands, feet, and backs of heads. If I feel I need to show an eye or other facial feature, it is usually cropped to that feature.
It is matter of personal comfort. Being anonymous doesn’t take away from the content!