Why do famous people hide faces of their children on social media?

It is quite ordinary for parents to post pictures and videos of their children online. Recently, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared a picture of his wife Priscilla Chan and their three daughters – seven-year-old Maxima, five-year-old August and infant Aurelia – on Instagram, marking the Fourth of July. However, Zuckerberg chose to hide the faces of his two young daughters with happy face emojis. Soon, he was criticised by netizens for concealing the faces of his children while sharing the photograph as most saw this as an acknowledgment of digital privacy concerns. Instagram’s parent company Meta has previously been accused of monetising user data which has resulted in personal information becoming public. A user wrote, “Even Zuck doesn’t trust his platforms to put his kids faces up”. “Take notes. The founder of Meta doesn’t want his daughter’s faces posted to social media,” another Instagram user commented.

But it is not just Zuckerberg who is cautious while sharing content related to his children. From Anushka Sharma-Virat Kohli to Orlando Bloom and Gigi Hadid, there is a list of celebrities who choose to do so. This trend of sharing videos and photos of children by parents on social media is called “sharenting,” a portmanteau of the words sharing and parenting. Let’s take a look at sharenting and what are its dangers. What is sharenting? While the term can be traced back to the 2012 Wall Street Journal article about “oversharenting,” parents have been posting about their kids online even before that, noted Verywell Mind. Leah Plunkett, author of Sharenthood says sharenting happens whenever adults in charge of a child’s well-being, such as parents or teachers, share private details of a child online, as per The New Yorker. From connecting with peers and loved ones online to feelings of validation, there are a number of reasons why adults sharent. [caption id=“attachment_12850892” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Parents sharing pictures and videos of a kid online is called ‘sharenting’. Pixabay (Representational Image)[/caption] A study says new mothers “feel supported” and validated as “good” parents when the pictures of their infants they posted on social media receive likes and positive comments. According to child clinical psychologist Laura Anderson Kirby, sharenting ensures that people stay connected to friends and family that live far away, as per the Verywell Mind article. The other reason why adults sharent is because they want to showcase their pride in their children’s achievements and tell their family and loved ones about the kids’ lives, the article added citing researchers.

As per Plunkett, adults sharent as the digital world “makes it very easy to do and even encourages it.”

According to different studies, an average child has their photograph and videos shared online 1,300 times before the age of 13. Euronews reported citing the Observatory of parenthood and digital education that around 91 per cent of parents had posted about their children online before the child reached the age of five. Concerns about sharenting Plunkett, who is associate dean of learning experience and innovation (LXI) at Harvard Law School, argues that sharenting takes away the child’s agency over their lives as parents share pictures and videos online without the kid’s consent. According to Verywell Mind, by sharenting, parents weave a digital identity of their kids even before children can decide who or what they want to be on social media or in real life. The content shared online by adults about children, especially embarrassing or private details about their health or behaviour, can have a real-world impact and result in bullying of the youngster, the article added.

Problems such as surveillance and privacy issues are also associated with sharenting.

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Experts worry sharenting could expose kids to identity theft and facial recognition technology, as per CNN.  According to studies, by 2030, about two-thirds of identity-fraud cases plaguing today’s children will be because of sharenting, reported The New Yorker.  [caption id=“attachment_12850852” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] About 91 per cent of parents had shared about their children online before the child reached the age of five, says a study. Pixabay (Representational Image)[/caption] Even if adults post a baby’s image online, artificial intelligence technology can be deployed to trace the changes in the face over time as well as connect the child to a picture of them when they turn older, Plunkett told CNN.  Amid various concerns, the French government banned parents from oversharing details about their children online earlier this year. What can adults do? Parents should ensure they do not overshare information about their kids, such as their full names, address or updates about their health. As children reach adolescence and begin forming their own identities, parents should curb what they post about their kids, says the Verywell Mind article. Blurring or obscuring the child’s face when sharing pictures and videos is also a good practice. Plunkett told CNN that hiding a child’s face is a “symbol that you’re giving them control over their own narrative”. “Every time you post about your kids, you are chipping away at allowing them to tell their own stories about who they are and who they want to become,” she said. “We grow up making mischief and more than a few mistakes and grow up better having made them. If we lose the privacy of teens and kids to play and explore, and to live and through trial and error, we will deprive them of the ability to develop and tell stories [on their own terms].” Plunkett also suggests that adults “make more mindful choices” about their digital lives. With inputs from agencies