Sharenting and the risks of constantly sharing images of children on social networks

Have you heard of sharenting? It is a concept that has been formed from two words in English: share, which means sharing, and parenting, which means paternity, that is, it is a term that refers to sharing on social networks images related to family life, especially the growth of children and their upbringing. A practice that can have many risks.

Precisely in order to be able to inform about this and other dangers that the population is often not fully aware of, we wanted to collaborate with Andorra Telecom and participate in this blog. A necessary initiative to promote the digital well-being of citizens.

Are we aware of it?

Social networks have caused us to overexpose ourselves without measuring the consequences for our privacy, which are many, and without being too aware of the use that cybercrime can make of everything we publish. Effects that can currently be multiplied with the "explosion" of artificial intelligence.

Let us now put ourselves in the context of children.

Some families start publishing photos of the bastard practically from the moment they are born and, therefore, they are already generating what is called a digital footprint. There are people who have even created their own profiles for young children to share with the world everything they do. We are all very excited to see them grow up and we love to experience family moments, but let's think for a moment about how.

What can happen to the images of the children?

At this point, we invite you to ask yourself some questions:

• Do you consider that the moment you upload a photo to the networks, that image is no longer yours?
• Do you know where these photos or videos might end up?
• What use can a pedophile make of the images of your sons and daughters?
• Are you aware that there are millions of child pornography websites that feed on these images?

Let's go a step further and also address what is grooming, another anglicism that defines how an adult poses as a minor through social networks, video game chats and online communities to gain their trust and harass them sexually Many young people end up staying with them in person. Do you know which images bullies use to get in touch with children? Well, the photos they find on the internet. And do you also know that they can end up asking them for photographs and videos of a sexual nature with which they can also extort them later?

Some surprising facts

The study carried out by Unicef and Andorra Telecom in 2022 on the impact of technology on adolescents, through surveys of more than two thousand students in Andorra, determined that more than 50% had received messages from of a sexual nature, more than 35% had received images, 12.3% had sent them and almost 8% had been victims of extortion. More than 66% had accepted strangers on the networks and nearly 30% had met in person.

With this data you can get an idea of all the risks involved in sharing images of our sons and daughters on the internet or, even, that they do it themselves without having the information and maturity to understand what can happen. Also, in the future, all the private information that has been shared about them can make them victims of fraud or other crimes.

And their emotions and their privacy?

Apart from everything we are mentioning, we also ask you to consider how children may feel about everything you share about them and what consequences it may have in their adult lives. Have you considered that children have not given their consent, or at least not their informed consent?

We have no shortage of questions. Now you have to put the answers.

Before you share pictures of the scoundrel on the networks, think about it. protect them