What is sharerenting?

Or why you should be more careful with photos of your children.

At the time of writing this article I am 41 years old and I am a father. But this phenomenon has been observed and has been worrying the authorities for some time.

My generation was the one that had the internet explode in their faces, and although it was a bit rudimentary at that time, we had chats (mIRC, Messenger), forums (Myroba, Melodysoft or PHBB), and some first somewhat precarious social networks (Photolog, myspace, etc).

And there were already problems of harassment, the occasional publication of images that were not allowed. But since it was not so extensive and especially since a computer had to be necessary with a precarious connection and which most of the time took up the line, it was not as big a problem as it is today.

Today, the immediacy of social networks, of chats on mobile devices. It causes a small leak to spread globally in seconds. Since it is quickly forwarded to all contacts (and we have hundreds) or goes viral on the network based on our followers or their followers. Something that is much easier than before since becoming a follower is something as simple as a “click”.

But returning to the title of the article, what is sharenting?

Well, neither more nor less is this word an Anglicism that comes to saying “what parents share”, in short, sharing the first smiles, steps and anecdotes of our little ones on all social networks.

It has become so common that the dictionary itself collins he included it in 2016. And it is a phenomenon that has not stopped growing.

To date, there has been no other generation with such a public childhood, and it is quite likely that when they grow up, many will not agree with it.

The importance of the digital footprint.

As we have explained in ““Digital identity”, the digital footprint is our trace on the Internet, and it is just as important. Because of it, we can be tracked, and there may be cases in which certain publications can restrict us from certain jobs, or our photos may be compromised on websites of dubious reputation.

According to Ofcom through news of Guardian:

“An Ofcom report found that of parents who share photos, 52% said their children are happy for them to do so and 84% said they only share things their children would be happy with.”

“…It appears to be having a negative effect, particularly on young people, with a third of those surveyed by Ofcom saying other people's photos made them feel their lives didn't match up. This increases to 53% for people aged 18-24 and 45% for people aged 25-34.

 Some young people resort to deleting selfies from their profiles if they don't get enough likes or retweets, or untagging and disengaging from others' photos and posts, according to the report…”

Possible fraud

Going a little beyond the possible parental ethical debate about whether or not to publish photos of minors, we must know that there may be risks to their digital identity in the near future.

According to a news report, Barclays bank:

“The bank says parents are compromising their children's future financial security with so much online trading.

 Barclays predicts that by 2030 it could cost almost £670 million in online fraud.

 Bank security specialists say social media means identity fraud 'has never been easier'

«Another decade of parents sharing too much information on the Internet will produce 7.4 million cases per year of identity theft by 2030″, says the company.«

All this based on information such as birthdays, important events of our children, special places, etc... And the worst of all, it is not that we suffer it, but that since it is information about our children, they will suffer it.

In addition to the, unfortunately, more typical cases of child pornography, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, etc...

What can we do?

Be aware of what we publish, where we publish it and with what privacy we publish it. Hence the importance of knowing that we have a digital identity, and that we have to take care of it as much as physics. I don't say real, because both are already real and coexist together.

In addition to reviewing the privacy settings, it is also highly recommended to cover your face and educate yourself in digital terms, like any other concept in life (education, respect, sexuality, etc...)