When my husband and I found out we were expecting our first baby, we talked about all kinds of options that we found ourselves faced with. Names, birth options, feeding, sleeping arrangements, childcare, finding out (or not!) the gender. It all can be pretty overwhelming, but we had nine months to talk about our shared preferences. Many of these we felt strongly about and had some idea of where we wanted to go. However, there are a few parenting decisions I keep reflecting on more than others.
One is the question of social media. Do we post pictures and updates of my daughter to share? Or do we not?
I have become increasingly aware of how much I use social media since having my daughter six months ago. In the early days of Facebook and MySpace (does that even exist anymore?!) There were a lot of selfies. At University, there were (too many) pictures of nights out. As I became a young professional, weekends away and vacations were well documented. Well, both my life and the way that I use social media have changed very drastically since those early Facebook days.
Even before becoming a parent, I had started making a conscious effort to not be on my phone all the time. I went through various waves of only using Facebook at the weekend. Not using it during lunch breaks. I turned off notifications. All a reminder for myself to be present in the moment.
Well all of that is now out of the window. I stay home with my daughter, so I have to constantly be in the moment. Any chance I get to check in with the outside world is a treat and is so easy via social media. If I’m using social media more again, perhaps a few pictures of my daughter would be nice to share. It is so tempting.
I love seeing updates and pictures from friends and family about their children. Particularly being an international family, it helps me feel connected and not so far away.
On the other hand, we have some friends who have decided to keep their children off their social media accounts. Others don’t use social media at all. To stay connected, I need to use other forms of communication. There is something refreshing about that.
One thing I do know is that social media is going to be much more present in the culture that our daughter grows up in compared to my own experience. For now, we have opted to keep her off our social media accounts. Maybe in time that will change.
Seeing as I keep coming back to this question again and again, perhaps it is best for me to let her decide. If she wants to become a viral selfie taker, or an instagramming vlogger, she can have at it. Or not. All in good time. Until then, I hope that I can help her find the tools, awareness and confidence to make whatever decision is right for her.
I am interested, what have other parent’s experiences been with posting on social media? What made you decide one way or another?
