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In the modern age, the world of the Internet has grown into quite the phenomenon. And a feature of this networking epidemic is a relatively new craze called ‘sharenting.’ But what exactly is sharenting? Sharenting is a portmanteau of the words share and parenting. The term was coined in the early 2010s as a means of describing the act of sharing one’s children online. The rise in the popularity of sharenting is shown in the considerable number of ‘family vlogging’ channels on YouTube. The main controversy at the centre of this scarily popular trend is that the children involved in these vlogs are not seen to give their consent to be spread all over the internet. It is not just content creators and popular channels, sharenting is so common nowadays hardly anyone bats an eyelid. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, all these social media platforms have parents sharing photos and videos of their children all over them. If someone has family members added as friends on these platforms, and especially if these family members have young children, it can be difficult to navigate the platform without being bombarded with photos and videos of these children. The sharenting phenomenon can also call into question how much privacy we really have in the digital age. If children are put on the Internet from birth, they grow up having already been liked and shared and viewed by complete strangers without the consent of the child themselves. If a child has been shared around the Internet from birth with no choice in the matter, it can lead to them feeling a lack of control over their own life and image. Children growing up with their private life already online and with nothing they can do about it can be a major source of stress and can cause mental health issues later in life.
The act of sharenting, or more accurately being a victim of sharenting, is to have your life turned into content without your consent. But the age of social media is not the beginning of sharenting. Though the word was coined in the early 2010s, we have been witnessing sharenting for far longer than we may realise. Child stars being pushed to their limits in the spotlight all for the benefit of creating films or plays has been occurring since the dawn of cinema. Big names like Judy Garland, Miley Cyrus, and Lindsey Lohan are all known for being celebrities who were incredibly famous as children. And all these celebrities have been infamous for one thing or another in later life after being given extraordinary amounts of fame. Be it taking drugs, drinking to excess, or displaying violent and aggressive behaviour. We can look at the psychological aspect of this, as researched by The National Child Trauma Stress Network. In their report on What is Child Trauma?[1] They discuss how having a traumatic childhood can impact on the future of a child in an extremely negative way. “A child with a complex trauma history may have problems in romantic relationships, in friendships, and with authority figures, such as teachers or police officers.” The lasting effects of childhood trauma can essentially destroy a child’s future. Sharenting puts an incredible amount of stress and pressure on children. Having your life turned into content for others to enjoy seems far too similar to watching zoo animals frolicking around for our entertainment. Why, in this day and age, are we relying on the exploited lives of families and children for our enjoyment? The boom in sharenting through family vlogging can be found all over the video sharing platform of YouTube.
[1] The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, What is Child Trauma?, Effects, ([n.d.])