Social Media + Kids: 5 Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Post About Them

This post has been brought to you today by OneDay, the app that helps you create a professional quality video with the touch of a button.  

I’ve been feeling really conflicted about how I use social media lately. In the past almost every milestone, new word, and cute photograph of my kids was blasted off into Facebook for the world to see. I’ve joked for quite a long time that Facebook is the modern day baby book. If I need to know when Malone cut his first tooth or took his first steps, I can just take a stroll through my timeline to find the answer.

Someone in my friend circle recently started potty training her child. Every play by play was posted publicly and shared. I knew how many M & M’s the child received that day, how many accidents he had, and what kind of big boy underwear he was wearing. And that is when I realized that while I myself have never shared potty training details with the world, there have certainly been times where I’ve contributed to the noise of social media by over sharing.  

I’m still using social media to share the lives of my kids- but in smaller, more curated doses now. I’ve come up with a series of questions to ask myself before I post something of them online. I thought I’d share them with you today.

Social Media + Kids: 5 Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Post About Them

 

1. If my kid reads this, would he/she be embarrassed by it?

Eventually, my little ones will not be five and 17 months. They’ll be 10 and 6 or 18 and 14. I don’t want to be ashamed or embarrassed when they find my social media feeds. Instead, I want them to look at the moments I have shared and smile. Maybe it will even jog a memory or two for them.

2. Does sharing this keep my kid safe?

For us, this means no full on bathtub shots, nudity, or potty photos. It also means no photographs in front of their schools. I am also trying really hard to stop sharing moments in live time, meaning that by the time I’ve put that photo of us at the park on Instagram, we’re already home.

The internet is full of creepy creepers and it is my job to help keep my kids safe.

3. Is this my story tell?

There are some stories that aren’t 100% mine to tell. As my kids get older, I know they’re going to have fights with friends, crushes, and first kisses. They’re going to have girlfriends and boyfriends and love stories of their own. I want to be there for them in those moments, but those stories aren’t going to be ones for the world to get to be a part of because they’re not my story to share!

4. Am I sharing this because I want the instant gratification of “likes” or am I sharing this because I know this is a moment my family and friends would love to see?

As someone who has struggled with pride in the past, it can be really easy to get caught up in the instant gratification that sharing on social media brings. I’ve found the more likes a post of the kids get, the bigger my ego becomes. The bigger my ego becomes, the uglier I get on the inside.

5. Is this too special for the world to be a part of?

I know several friends that have set up Facebook accounts for their newborns. Their lives are being written for them on the walls of their Facebook page. It works for their parents and to some extent, I get it. You know me, I’m all about doing what works best for someone. But for us, there are stories in my family that are too precious for public domain.

Instead, I keep a good old fashioned journal for my kids. I write in the daily to record the day to day ordinary of our lives together. Some days, it is just a quick I love you. Other days, I write paragraphs and paragraphs noting the funny things they said or did.

One of the main reasons why I share what I do is because we live really far away from family and friends. Sharing what is happening with the kids helps close the gap. My kids don’t get to spend a lot of one on one time with my family, but my family can watch them grow by what I share on social media- so there is value there.

In addition to journaling, I am also a really big fan of using the OneDay app to record short videos of my kids. OneDay is an instant movie maker- all I have to do is choose a prompt, ask the question to the kids, and hit the record button on my iPhone.

I can string together a series of prompts and create a professional quality video with the click of a button. It doesn’t take any professional skills to make a masterpiece. OneDay has a ton of different story prompts including themed sets for holidays, sets designed especially for a child to answer, and even sets for an adult to answer.

When I’m finished making the movie, I can save it to my camera roll on my phone. From there, the movie can be uploaded to You Tube, sent via email, or even sent via a text. This app allows me to share my videos of kids without using social media. I can’t tell you how many movies I’ve emailed to the grandparents!

The OneDay app is currently free and available for both iPhone and was released on Feb 2 for Android devices via the Google Play Store.

 

What are your thoughts on how you share your children’s life online?