Why This Mom Doesn’t Post Photos of Her Daughter
Babies can't consent to what their parents post on the 'Gram — that's why this mom wants to talk about children's privacy and their digital footprint. 👶🤳
Less Sharing is Caring
While most children have a digital footprint before their 2nd birthday — this mom didn't want that for her daughter. Writer Sara Gaynes Levy and her husband don't post photos of their daughter on social media. In their first few years, babies are routinely exposed online — naturally, without their knowledge.
“My husband had asked me while I was pregnant with our daughter if I would be OK with not posting her online and at first, I was really kind of taken aback by the question. I post a lot on social media. He gave me a lot of reasons that he felt it was an invasion of her privacy. He felt like she didn't have the ability to consent to her image being out there, especially when I'm living my life kind of in a public way. It felt really isolating at first because when your baby is a newborn, you’re in your home so much, especially as a mom, you're trapped under a baby that you're feeding and really all you have is your phone as a lifeline to the world.”
“My personal platform is not that parents need to stop posting their kids altogether, but I think it is a valuable exercise to think about what it would be like if you Google yourself now and found out that all your bath time photos were online. Not even bath time photos — everything you ever did was hashtagged and archived. She'll never have to go through that moment of being like, “You need to scrub the internet of me, Mom. I can't believe how embarrassing this is.” Obviously, I'm sure I'll do plenty of other embarrassing things, but it's a big relief to know that that's never a conversation we're gonna have to have.”
Gaynes Levy says friends and family now directly ask her about her daughter’s milestones. She says it also forced her to highlight other aspects of her life. Gaynes Levy occasionally includes her daughter in her posts. She says parents should have a conversation about the digital footprint they’re creating.
Brut.
Less Sharing is Caring
While most children have a digital footprint before their 2nd birthday — this mom didn't want that for her daughter. Writer Sara Gaynes Levy and her husband don't post photos of their daughter on social media. In their first few years, babies are routinely exposed online — naturally, without their knowledge.
“My husband had asked me while I was pregnant with our daughter if I would be OK with not posting her online and at first, I was really kind of taken aback by the question. I post a lot on social media. He gave me a lot of reasons that he felt it was an invasion of her privacy. He felt like she didn't have the ability to consent to her image being out there, especially when I'm living my life kind of in a public way. It felt really isolating at first because when your baby is a newborn, you’re in your home so much, especially as a mom, you're trapped under a baby that you're feeding and really all you have is your phone as a lifeline to the world.”
“My personal platform is not that parents need to stop posting their kids altogether, but I think it is a valuable exercise to think about what it would be like if you Google yourself now and found out that all your bath time photos were online. Not even bath time photos — everything you ever did was hashtagged and archived. She'll never have to go through that moment of being like, “You need to scrub the internet of me, Mom. I can't believe how embarrassing this is.” Obviously, I'm sure I'll do plenty of other embarrassing things, but it's a big relief to know that that's never a conversation we're gonna have to have.”
Gaynes Levy says friends and family now directly ask her about her daughter’s milestones. She says it also forced her to highlight other aspects of her life. Gaynes Levy occasionally includes her daughter in her posts. She says parents should have a conversation about the digital footprint they’re creating.
Brut.