SINGAPORE: Enthusiastic parents share the life events of their children online through social media. They curate an online presence of their children – sons and daughters. This is called ‘sharenting’ -using social media to share images and news of one’s child. It has become a matter of concern for some children if not all.

“My dad sent a picture to a friend, and that picture had my hand in it … I’m quite sensitive because people say that it looks fat,” a girl shared. “It didn’t really look good in that picture … so I felt rather uncomfortable. But my dad refused to take it down.”

Her parents have published countless posts about her. But she feels increasingly that “they’re bragging” online, even when she thinks a picture is “not glamorous”.

‘I mean, you can keep it in your gallery, but don’t post it without my knowledge,” she stressed. She is not the only child who feels this way about parents often sharing information about their children online without their consent,’ highlights the program Talking Point in Singapore. It also compromises the children’s privacy and endangers their life security. Parents could be unwittingly exposing them to predators by putting the pictures and the life details of their children in internet social media.

The United Kingdom, a 2016 study found that the average parent would have posted 1,500 photos on social media by his or her child’s fifth birthday — close to six pictures a week.

Associate Professor Jung Younbo from Nanyang Technological University’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information believes that ‘sharenting’ is a social phenomenon because families today have fewer kids, “so the children become a very precious feature”. (Agencies)