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Social Media & Privacy

Online Privacy & Digital Identity

Each and every one of us has a digital identity curated over a period of time.  

This identity affects many different parts of our lives such as how we stay connected to others, as both the friends that we have, as well as employers have access to this data. For most of the population over the age of 15 the user has, for the most part, formed this identity themself.  This is not so true for the younger generation as their online identity began to be formed, often even before they were alive, by their parents (Steinberg, 2017). Unfortunately, at this time there is no legislation specifically protecting minors privacy online and as this issue becomes more prevalent laws will need to be put in place to protect children’s right to create their own identity ("Online Privacy Law: Canada | Law Library of Congress", 2018).

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Recently there has become a new trend in which parents post embarrassing content of their children, even going so far as to participate in online punishment.  Due to this, mistakes that children make are no longer learned from and then left behind but are continually accessible to all those that they meet in the future (Steinberg, 2017).  This creates such a negative impact that one researcher, Schmidt, has suggested that in the future all adults may be given the right to change their name as an escape from the content linked to them (Steinberg, 2017).  

Suggestions to Help

Talk to children when posting about them so they can have a say if they want it posted or not (Bonus: by starting this conversation children can learn about appropriate social media use)

 

Create a hashtag to use when posting photos of a specific child so that later on they can easily find them and request them to be taken down if they no longer want them on the Internet

Sharing for Community Connection

There are many benefits to sharing on social media as it can connect people in a community.  Parents of children with illnesses can connect for support and can work together to use this platform to break down stereotypes against their children (Steinberg, 2017).  There is a fine line though between creating a positive community for your child and overstepping their privacy by sharing about their condition. The key is to keep them involved; make sure that they are okay with the content being shared and allow them to create their own content so their voice can be heard (Steinberg, 2017).  

Dangers of Online Sharing

When parents share on social media their intentions are for good.  Social media is a platform that people use to celebrate important events in their lives, and stay connected to those they don’t see everyday.  Users content though is not only accessible to their friends, but to many others. Even if privacy settings are in use they do not stop others from saving the image or sending it to others (Steinberg, 2017). Unfortunately, not all users have such positive agendas as parents often do.  Photos can be easily manipulated for the use of pedophiles and a simple post about your child’s school gives others the location of your child for a majority of the day (Steinberg, 2017). The decision to post this content indirectly may put the child in a dangerous position and they had no choice in the matter.

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