Baby pics on social media: Yes or no?

THE CUTENESS SHOULD BE SHARED | Dilkush Khan

Using social media platforms, users are able to share every part of their life, whether it be their lunch or their children—the latter being beneficial to both the parents and the viewers, since they’re so darn cute.

Some of the most popular accounts on Instagram are of children, like Laura Izumikawa’s account, who’s garnered more than 500k followers by taking pics of her napping four-month-old dressed up as characters, like Eleven from Stranger Things, or a taco. It was a creative and adorable approach to the way children’s photos are shared. And more parents should be creative, too.

For those who actually enjoy curated pictures, it’s nice to see cute children on Instagram, especially a happy one, to make the day a little brighter.

Sure, there are creeps on social media, and everyone should always be aware of what they share. Users should be mature and responsible enough to make sure they’re not exploiting their child. It’s understandable why parent’s share pictures of their baby. It’s a digital photo album where they can go back and look at how big their child has grown. So why can’t others enjoy that too?

Another added bonus for sharing children’s pictures online, besides for pleasure of others, is to share with family and friends. If someone’s sister lives in Baltimore, for example, and they want to see pictures of their niece, then the easiest way to share those pictures is on social media. Group chats are harder to manage, and sending multiple pictures at a time becomes a menace. By uploading an album, it becomes easier and more accessible for full families to enjoy.

If folks are so worried about their child being at some random person’s fingertips, then they don’t have to post them. Simple.

NOT A SAFE PLACE FOR KIDS | Padideh Aghanoury

Social media is a public platform where people can “curate” their lives and display the most important parts to the world. For many parents, that can certainly include their children. However, social media isn’t private. Unfortunately, there are some pretty awful people in this world who like to commit sick and perverse acts against children, and having unlimited access to pictures of random children is unsettling.

Through privacy can be set so that only friends or people who’ve requested access can see the contents of someone’s profile, all contents are archived and many internet sleuths have found these archives. The old adage really rings true here: once something is posted online, it can never be erased.

Also, many people are Facebook friends with more than just their families. Many people use Facebook to stay in contact with childhood friends, previous classmates, and old acquaintances. Some people even meet via internet and become friends on social networking sites through shared interests and hobbies. Often, very few people on one’s friend list are close friends or family members.

Unless the child is somehow directly related to them, many people just don’t really care about seeing baby pictures. Sure babies can be cute sometimes, but they just mostly cry and need constant surveillance. While someone might think their baby is the cutest thing in the world, there will be a number of their Facebook friends that don’t agree.

If one wants to share photos of their children with immediate loved ones, they can use one of the many other forms of communication, like text or email.

Finally, children are different from a pet or an object in that they are actually people. Believe it or not, a child will grow up to be an adult one day, and when they realize every moment of their first 18 years of life was documented to a public audience of essentially every person their parents knew, it is going to have a significant impact. These children aren’t given any sense of privacy because some parents view their children as an extension of themselves rather than an individual person.

Illustration: Madalyn Drewno- CU Sentry