OPINION

Don’t be an ‘oversharent’

BY JHON ALMARK DELA CRUZ | NOVEMBER 29, 2023

“Having a new family member is exciting, so as soon as we heard the news of having a baby, we couldn't wait to share it online.”

This was the statement made by Bulacan-based 44-year-old mother Angelyn Cruz when asked about the age of her now seven-year-old son when she first shared photos of him on Facebook. Even today, she still shares information about her child online. Unknown to her, she practices an increasingly common activity among parents of this age called ‘sharenting’—a contraction of the words sharing and parenting.

The Wall Street Journal coined the term in their 2012 article to describe parents who share photos, videos, and other activities of their children online. Oversharenting, on the other hand, is excessively doing the said activity. This is an alarming trend among parents that we should not tolerate but instead be on the lookout to give this parental issue up for the sake of children’s welfare.

People may think, what could possibly go wrong with documenting and uploading videos and photos online? Tendencies arise where sharenting could easily fall into the pitfalls of oversharenting and endanger not only their child but also their family’s well-being in the long run.

WHY PARENTS BECOME ‘SHARENTS’

Various reasons can motivate parents to engage in sharenting. A study by public policy researcher Laurel Cook shows that the desire to share comes naturally. It starts with a reaction that causes the release of dopamine or “feel-good” hormones, which is triggered by the interactions we get using Facebook and other social media platforms, such as likes, comments, and shares.

One reason parents do so is because they can connect with other parents they can relate to and may learn something from each other’s parenting. The network created through sharenting is likely to be imitated by other parents as long as it seems complimentary to their kids. It propagates further connections across digital realms to build a sense of parental community.

As for Angelyn, she claimed that she only posts photos of her child as a way to express her ‘love and pride for him as a parent.’ She wanted something that she could look back to in the future.

Nowadays, parents face a polarizing paradox that they must understand to decide what’s best to do for their children. Indeed, sharenting comes with certain benefits, like involving and updating significant people who are far away from their children’s lives.

But, like how a yin comes with yang, unwanted outcomes are likely to be encountered, especially if practices become immoderate and certain precautions aren’t established.

CYBER INSECURITY TO CHILDREN

In 2020, the United States National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the Philippine Internet Crimes Against Children Center (PICACC) declared the Philippines as the ‘global epicenter of livestream sexual trafficking of children.’

Sharing photos of children online might appear harmless at first glance. However, parents should recognize that posting can lead to risky incidents, whether for family, friends, or the public. Some parents might be fully aware that oversharenting could lead to grave consequences for them and their child’s welfare. But, it might not be the same for others.

Social media is pervasive by nature and any digital footprint left in it is permanent. Uploading photos on Facebook has no guarantee they will only exist within the platform. Even with modified settings, its features can allow child predators or other cyber criminals to download the content and upload it to other sites for personal use.

In May 2020, Facebook reported 279,166 images of child sexual abuse on Filipino children and similar content on its website. Worse, these contents are being sold and traded by parents themselves. The contents’ price ranges between $3–$50, which is equivalent to P166–P2,770. Even if they happen to delete them, digital trails could still be traced; thus, deletion won’t be enough to protect the child.

Oversharenting could also be detrimental to the growth and development of a child. Psychologist Dr. Richthofen “Tofi” de Jesus discussed with a Filipino celebrity mom the dangers of oversharenting in a 2019 video titled The Effects of Social Media on Mental Health.

Self-esteem issues could arise in the future if a child’s personal life is shared too much online, which includes a loss of self-identity and a lot of self-doubts. The more that the parents share details about their child on a platform, the more that it blurs the line between the online and the offline world. This may lead to difficulty for children to have a strong sense of self while growing up.

A THREAT TO A CHILD'S FUTURE

Another privacy matter unknown to many is the ownership of social media platforms to any uploaded content. Usually tucked away in the terms and conditions, these clauses are ignored by most users when they scan them. Thus, once a parent shares a photo of their child on the platform, the site automatically owns the image.

Earlier this July, for instance, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) reported several Facebook pages selling Filipino toddlers for illegal adoption products in an online store. At least 12 pages and five Facebook groups were said to be readily accessible to the public. They may have been taken down, but such action still cannot stop these cybercrime groups from creating another Facebook page to continue their sharp practices.

Meta may have placed restrictions on adults’ capability to ‘share and connect’ with minors and take down underage accounts upon request in recent years, but abusers are still able to forcefully involve children in these harmful cyber activities.

With Facebook known to be the most-used app in the Philippines, it is necessary for them to improve their policies to combat the rampant child trafficking and abuse. Certain improvements include a stronger collaboration with national or local law enforcement to share and investigate child abuse cases. They could also invest in developing educational campaigns that inform users about child trafficking encounters and teach them how to report them.

There is a need for these emerging policies to be thoroughly reviewed before implementing to address the problem properly. But, these policies need an approach that involves collaborative effort with experts, the government, and most importantly, the parents.

SHARE NOT MUCH

Compared to the role of these existing media platforms and the government; parents are still endowed with heavier responsibility to control what they share online, especially if their children have little to no understanding of navigating the digital realm on their own.

Angelyn may have understood that there are potential consequences in oversharing things about her child's activities online. Still, she and others must continuously make a conscious effort to think of the potential outcomes of whatever they share in the online world. As cliche as it may sound, always remember to observe the golden rule of social media: “Think before you click.”