Remaining Discreet in the Digital Era
Personal opinions on Sharenting and its consequences
I was raised in a family where divulging into each other’s personal lives was a normal affair. The family members simply loved to talk about the minutest details of their lives. I can also proudly say, that it is from here I got my love for story- telling. In my family’s case, it was about sharing their emotions, feelings, insecurities and sometimes also things that were not meant to be shared, but somehow the broadcasting always happened.
As I grew up and my social interactions increased, I became more aware of the concept of privacy, which earlier was not something pressed upon in my immediate family. If something is not shared by the members, it can be taken seriously as being offensively discreet. So when I experienced notions of privacy, by my social circle other than the family, I was surprised by how much independent it made me mentally. There was no heavy lifting of who would think what, about a certain fact, or who would share it any further to places where I would not want that piece of information to be. I realized that what I share with people, will not always remain with them. I also learnt it the harder way that what I share, is completely up to me, but on the contrary I might not have control on the information I already shared with others. It is now up to them to keep the word. So being mindful, is the key.
I appreciate the idea of not disclosing too much personal information on social media accounts, even if they were personal ones. Or maybe, I preferred to let myself be a mystery for my online social community, especially in personal aspects of my life. Initially, the concept of V-logging also baffled me. Later, as I explored I realized that sharing daily on updates of life, can be monetized too ! And this is actually a source of income for many ! As much as it sounded like a crazy idea to me, I myself got hooked to many v -loggers, and looked forward to their videos on their lives. Ironic , isn’t it ? There are also days when I too, want to share content related to my child, on social media. I have done that on certain occasions for a limited chosen audience. But my take on Sharenting completely changed , when I came across an article shared by the Assam State Police, India.
It was an advisory from the Assam Police, and I read the article more than ten times. I did my share of researching on Sharenting, and understood the depth of the issue, to some extent. There are not yet any proper laws in India , that protect the children from their own parents when it comes to sharing content on the internet. There are some regulations, and advisories too , but there are not enough penal actions related to it nor there are any properly defined consequences of actions or intentions resulting out of Sharenting, in the era of Artificial Intelligence.
I have come across many such videos of children dancing and lip syncing on audio content like musicals and miming on dialogues from movies, which are at times, ideally meant for a mature audience, and I found them very disturbing. The most ominous and unsettling part of such videos was that they were being made and put out in the world, in presence and with aid of their parents !! I am not sure how much knowledge do those parents have about the repercussions of such digital content, especially when the child is no longer a minor, consequences such as identity theft and potential predators. The content is there to remain in the digital space even if it is erased or tried to be for that matter, something which we termed as ‘digital footprints’.
My thoughts may provoke a parallel discussion, even a debate, but all I can think of as now is that the children need protection, a comprehensive approach towards regulating and limiting the practice of Sharenting, as we are taking leaps towards a more digitized society. As a developing nation, we should be progressive in our approach and attitudes in general, but not at the cost of our children, who are the future of the society. We should not forget that, this is the age of information and it can be an instrument of causing disasters too.
At this point, I thank my brain and my conscience, for having developed enough sense, that did not make me share content about my child in an irresponsible manner. I strive to be an aware citizen, an aware parent and also an aware Netizen. So should my dear readers too !!
