Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

My bff and I had a discussion recently about how her brother refuses to email or post any pics anywhere on the net because of 'paranoia about child molesters grabbing pics, also that the child is unable to give permission for said pictures to be posted, and once these things are out there, they're out there forever".

The thing about not being able to give permission about what is shared about you struck me.

I have fb friends (as i'm sure we all do) that constantly post pics (i'm not complaining about the pics, not the point of my post) of their kids in various stages of life, doing various activities (some of which could be viewed later in life as VERY embarrassing but when you're a kid it's like awwwww). Is this fair to the kid? We all have embarassing pics from childhood that are tucked away in mom and dad's albums, not online for all the world to see and save.

11/4: a friend posted this on fb; this is another example of a parent posting something that may haunt this kid forever and I just don't think its fair to the kid who will someday be an adult who may appreciate some privacy. It's great that she's a proud mom, I just don't think people are giving much thought to what they are putting out on the www:

5 yr old dressess up for Halloween

Message edited 11/4/2010 1:02:20 PM.

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB

I rarely post pictures of my children on the internet. I agree with your BIL.

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB

I am really paranoid about what I put on the internet so I would be very hesitant to post pictures. Maybe one photo, but that is it.

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB

It doesn't bother me. I'd post embarassing pics of my kids, but then again I post plenty of embarassing pics of myself and my DH, so it doesn't bother me. IMO, it's not much worse than mom breaking out the album of embarassing pics when you bring a b/f home. But then again, that's just my opinion. My co-worker was all about how she would never post pics of her family because it's nobody's business but hers, but once I showed her how to use the privacy settings to really make it private she seemed fine with it. She's got tons of pics of her girls up now but only her friends can see them.

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

bumped with update

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

it doenst bother me at all.

in fact, i do think its a lil silly to be scared to post on internet

in this day n age..anyone could get anything..one thing i wouldnt post is personal info-like address or telephone #

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

My cousins wife posts their son's every move. . Has pics of him topless, naked as a young child.

She is a friend collector and I dont think her wall is private

I am uber careful what I post. You will not find a picture of me on here for this reason.

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

I LOVE this woman.

I LOVE her. LOOOOVVVVEEEEE her.

I hope to God I go to bat like that for my son.

but, to the point of the thread, do you think the mom posting this blog and photo of the son will come back to haunt him?

are their really people in the world with will hoard the photo of a 5 year old until he is of age and then out of no where, spring it on him to surprise and embarrass him? I don't think so.

as for pedophiles and such, is is possible that one is using my sons picture to excite himself....maybe. but one could just as easily snap a photo of him for the same purpose with a cell phone while we are out and about. I work on keeping his physical self safe and protected. I keep all of my paranoia there.

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

Posted by MrsS6510

Posted by Ophelia


are their really people in the world with will hoard the photo of a 5 year old until he is of age and then out of no where, spring it on him to surprise and embarrass him? I don't think so.

as for pedophiles and such, is is possible that one is using my sons picture to excite himself....maybe. but one could just as easily snap a photo of him for the same purpose with a cell phone while we are out and about. I work on keeping his physical self safe and protected. I keep all of my paranoia there.

I have to agree with this. My sister has two boys. I used to have pics of them on FB and on my wedding website. She demanded that I take them down because people will see that I was getting married on 6/5/10 and since they were in the bridal party, people would know her house would be empty that day so they could be robbed

I completely don't understand nor do I agree with her logic, but I took them down to avoid a fight.

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

FB pictures don't concern me too much - you either know the person looking at your pictures or they don't see them.

I would be more cautious on local websites like LIF because the chance of recognizing the child is higher. I saw an LIF member at a block party last year and the ONLY reason I recognized her was b/c she posted tons of pictures of her daughter and I recognized her immediately. I knew the girl's name, the mother's name, about where she lived, her age, etc. If I were a predator, I could possibly use that information to gain trust of the little girl to abduct her or something worse.

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

Posted by heathergirl

Posted by MrsS6510


I have to agree with this. My sister has two boys. I used to have pics of them on FB and on my wedding website. She demanded that I take them down because people will see that I was getting married on 6/5/10 and since they were in the bridal party, people would know her house would be empty that day so they could be robbed

I completely don't understand nor do I agree with her logic, but I took them down to avoid a fight.

Some people are very paranoid, and I guess they have their reasons. I don't have a problem posting personal photos, maybe that will change when I have kids, IDK.

My thought is, who are you friends with on FB that would want to rob you if they saw you were out???

Message edited 11/5/2010 7:33:28 PM.

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

Posted by MrsS6510


I have to agree with this. My sister has two boys. I used to have pics of them on FB and on my wedding website. She demanded that I take them down because people will see that I was getting married on 6/5/10 and since they were in the bridal party, people would know her house would be empty that day so they could be robbed

I completely don't understand nor do I agree with her logic, but I took them down to avoid a fight.

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

I don't really care what pictures people post on FB. To me it's no different from all those embarresing pics my parents have of me - everything is on the internet nowadays that's just how it is. I disagree with posting a whole blog about this. Its different than sharing with family and friends on FB.

As a sidenote my father works for the police dept and he said it's not a good idea to post pics of your house, your address etc. And don't say when you are going on vacation etc. People find that stuff and they can break into your house...

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

I know someone that won't post recent pics of her daughter (and she's private) but that's because she's been at war with her DH's family for a long time. To me, that's absurd. No one has ever asked her for pics of every moment but her actions are really uncalled for.

Re: Thoughts on parents' posts on FB-Updated to include the WWW

I think as long as you have your security settings to the highest level and make sure you knnow all of your friends then it should be ok.

Where I noticed an issue is when people post on their friends walls and dont know their friends profile is barely private. I just signed my parents up to facebook and as I was finding some friends of theirs I saw that their friends pages were barely private! I advised my parents (after I worked on their privacy settings to be at the highest level) to not post anything tooo personal on their friends walls. If they want to exchange numbers, or discuss personal issues to do so in email.

You can have all the privacy in the world on FB but if a friends wall isnt private your comments can show up on the internet