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Sarah Owen's avatar

I found this a really poignant piece, my partner and I made a decision not to share pictures of our kids online when my eldest was born, mostly to help them control their online narratives as they get older but with no judgement at all about how others choose to parent. My partner rarely posts on any social media platform anyway. The amount of negativity we’ve had regarding this decision from our social circle I’ve found surprising. A lot of questions as to why, snide remarks about not making my pregnancy and the subsequent birth ‘Facebook official’, and keeping our kids private i.e. they miss out on the pictures. I’ve found it a really thorny environment to navigate, I do stand by my original thinking of if you want to see my kids grow up you’re more than welcome but not by the means of social media - just contact me.

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Hag Revolution's avatar

Strangely, I think one of the reasons I have never really posted pictures of my (now adult) daughters online is because I remember how my parents would tease-threaten me with showing my childhood obnoxious home movie appearances at my 21st! I have written about my daughters in a regular column I used to write, but only ever used pseudonyms because I wanted them to leave no footprint nor to be identifiable. I completely understand where you are coming from.

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