Social media experts warn of unintended consequences of 'sharenting'

The term "sharenting" may be new to some, but its meaning is self-explanatory.

It's a term used when parents post sensitive content about their young children online, often without consent, as the child may be too young to give it, or understand the full scope of what they're consenting to.

Social media marketing expert, Marc Botte, has heard of the term and says he's cautious of what he posts on the internet about his children.

"We're careful about the things we put online," said Botte, a social media marketing expert in Sydney, N.S.

Botte says he and his wife do share their child's moments online from time to time, but adds the content and audience is limited.

"Ultimately, we do put some funny photos and videos of our son on the internet," Botte said. “But we have our profiles locked down fairly well."

Caron Irwin works as a parenting coach in Toronto and has three children herself.

She says, in most cases, photos and videos are posted with the best intentions, but adds there is such thing as "oversharing."

She says some images could have unintended consequences for the child when they grow up, or as early as the teen and "tween" years.

"They're starting to figure out who they are in this world," Irwin said. “I do know that image or social media, or what they might see or what's portrayed of them, might impact their thoughts or feelings or ideas around who they are and their identity, and they might not appreciate that."

According to a study done in the United Kingdom, the average parent will post 1,500 pictures of their child online before the age of five.

The study also noted that almost a third of parents surveyed said they had never thought to seek a child’s permission before posting, with 55 per cent saying they weren't concerned about repercussions.

Experts in the study said consequences could include things like identity fraud in the future and unintentionally putting kids at risk to things like hacking, facial recognition tracking and pedophilia.

Irwin says if the child is old enough to understand and offer consent, the best bet is to ask them first.

"I think that helps get some buy-in from the kids," Irwin said. “It also helps model to our children that it's normal to ask for consent before you share something on social media."

Another study by Microsoft in 2019 found that more than 40 per cent of teens surveyed across 25 countries said they were troubled about how much their parents shared online.

"The tendency in this day and age is to share everything, to share every intimate moment with the world," Botte said. “That's kind of the culture that we live in, but I think moderation is important."

The bottom line, experts say, is that parents are ultimately responsible for their children’s digital footprint until they're old enough to use social media themselves.