In the early days of the Internet, we all used pseudonyms. Avatars, usernames... a handle that said something about us without exposing us. Some people used their real names and didn't care who knew, but the general attitude was to shield yourself, however thinly, from potential stalkers and other troublemakers.
Then we got Facebook. The only way to find your friends and long-lost relatives on Facebook was to be real. Your real name, your real schools and jobs and family, etc. It is both liberating and frightening to realize how much people can find out about you from social media these days!
While it's fine to put yourself out there, do you ever find yourself stopping to think before posting something about your kids?
Over the years, as open as I've been about myself I've been relatively careful not to reveal much about my kids. It just feels wrong. I may choose to put my life online for scrutiny, but it's not fair for them to have that done to them, without their consent.
When Kid's Stories Become Their Own is a blog post that really hits the nail on the head with this one, causing me to think again about telling my kids' stories to others. As I have told others many times over the years, when you are posting stuff on the Web, you aren't just having a conversation with friends, you are publishing. Publishing to a semi-permanent medium that you may or may not be able to "take back" should it become uncomfortable.
I see so many people putting things on Facebook that make me cringe- embarassing pictures, "cute" stories that can be humiliating and I wonder if people stop to think about the feelings of the child they are posting about. A lot of things are OK- some things aren't.
What do you think?
