Hello, lovely people of the internet! As most of you know, my husband Matt and I welcomed our new son a few months ago, and we couldn’t be happier. He is absolute perfection and to this day we find ourselves staring at him with awe and wonder, grateful for the blessing it is to have been chosen by God to be his parents. As we navigate this exciting new chapter, we have made a significant decision regarding our child’s online presence. After careful consideration, we have ultimately chosen not to post pictures of our children on social media. I wanted to share just a few of the reasons with you all why we are so protective of our child’s privacy online.
1. Autonomy
Growing up in the ’90s, I witnessed the internet’s evolution firsthand. I was fortunate enough to curate an internet presence for myself, by myself, rather than having it dictated by my parents. Reflecting on my childhood, I realize how valuable it was to have had that choice. I want to give my children the same opportunity to decide how and when they present themselves to the online world.
2. Safety
Even with private and locked-down social media accounts, there are still dangers lurking. The internet can be a scary place, with child predators looking for photos of babies and children to exploit. While parents post baby photos innocently on social media, many end up in not-so-innocent places. By not posting pictures of our children online, we are taking an extra step to protect them from such threats.
3. Access
I currently have over 1000 followers on a public Instagram and nearly the same on a semi-private Facebook; not one of those folks needs free access to my children. While I may have known most of my followers in real life at some point in life, it’s simply not necessary for all of them to see photos of my newborn son. Additionally, there are people from my past I am no longer in contact with, and I prefer they don’t have access to my children’s images. Even if I trusted every follower, the risk of their accounts being hacked is always present, which could compromise our children’s privacy. It’s not a chance we are willing to take!
4. Privacy
We didn’t share a birth announcement with all of our newborn son’s details like full name, date/time of birth, his height, weight, and all that fun stuff. We are SO proud to be parents and take great joy in our son. That said, his birth information is private and reserved for the close family and friends we choose to share it with. While I’ve shared my personal birth story here on the blog, it’s focused way more on my experiences as a laboring person rather than on my son’s arrival earthside.
We’ve communicated our decision to most people in our children’s lives, making it abundantly clear that they are not welcome to post pictures of our son online. They are, however, free to take photos and share them with loved ones privately, just not on the interwebs.
So Now What? A Compromise
We understand everyone’s curiosity—children are truly a heavenly gift! They are adorable, babies especially, and we love to love and celebrate them. As parents, there’s a strong urge to shout from the rooftops, “Hey! Look at this incredible human being we made!” and share every milestone in great detail. However, we are choosing not to post our children’s photos out of consideration for their privacy and their inability to consent at this time.
On the rare occasion we do share on social media, we will always cover our children’s faces for anonymity. Our newborn son even has a social media alias; he is lovingly referred to as “Gem,” because, as one follower put it, he is our precious little gem! This allows us to affectionately refer to him while protecting real-life identifiers such as initials and nicknames. We wouldn’t want those details to end up in the wrong hands.
Thank you for understanding and respecting our parenting decision to protect our child’s privacy online. We believe it’s the best choice for our family, ensuring our children’s safety, privacy, and future autonomy.
