What should you consider when posting about your child online?
If you choose to share content about your child online, here are some things you can do to help you sharent responsibly:
Safety
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Do not post personal information (e.g. addresses, full name of your child) or location-tagged photos that can reveal your child's locations (e.g. school, home, playground near your home).
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Search online for "How to disable location-tagging of photos" to find out how to do so for your device.
Appropriateness
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Before posting, ask yourself if your child would feel embarrassed or upset if they were to see your post, either now or in the future. If yes, do not post.
Digital Footprints
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If you upload photos or videos of your child, think twice about tagging them as this can allow others to trace your digital footprints back to them.
Alternatively, you can explore other ways of storing your memories such as through scrapbooking, writing postcards, and private sharing over secured platforms with close family and friends.
To find out more about sharenting and its associated risk, read 'A Guide to Sharenting'.
Apart from minding your own digital footprint, you can also guide your child to consider their own by getting them to T.H.I.N.K. about what they post online. A fun activity you and your child can do together is to conduct an online search on yourselves to see what your digital footprints are like. Share with your child ways that the family can avoid leaving negative digital footprints and maintain a positive online presence.
Creating a positive presence online using T.H.I.N.K. and S.U.R.E.
Safeguarding your child’s digital footprints
Privacy
Adjust your privacy settings on social media and allow only trusted audiences to view your posts.
Bear in mind that anything posted online can be screenshotted or downloaded by anyone and shared with people you may not have the intention to share it with.