Do you post pictures of your children?

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Permalink Reply by Renee on September 11, 2008 at 1:17pm

I do post photos of my son - I am not in fear of anything happening. He is too young for computers and I never post photos that involve nudity.

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Permalink Reply by Cathy H on September 11, 2008 at 3:26pm

I'm guilty! But nudes photos are definite No, Nos!

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Permalink Reply by Amy K on September 11, 2008 at 5:03pm

I don't share photos of the kids very often. Since I don't use the girls' real names, I feel a little safer, but it's still a bit scary who else might be looking.

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Permalink Reply by Lexie on September 11, 2008 at 5:43pm

I was on one board where people posted pictures of their babies, and all the pics with cloth diapers ended up on a cloth diaper sexual fetish site. The owner of the site refused to take them down. I am not worried about someone coming into real life contact with my kid, but the idea of her pic ending up somewhere I don't like means I don't post pics or names.

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Permalink Reply by Tara on September 11, 2008 at 7:34pm

I post pics of my kids and I will tell you there names. I work at a tourist attraction. Do you know how many people take pics of your family and you are calling everyone of them by their name standing right beside that person that just took your pic. I see it happen all the time but there is no law in NC that says you cannot take pics in a public place. This day in age if it is going to happen nothing can stop them. How many people put your kids names in their lunch boxes, bookbags, coats, or buy those cute little zipper pulls with your kids names on them, which I sell at the tourist attraction? Is that not a pic of your child (their face) with there name on it, there is no difference.

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Permalink Reply by Naomi "Digitalfangirl" on September 12, 2008 at 10:41am

I know this is a touchy subject for a lot of moms. I post all of my photos on flickr. The ones of my girls are only viewable by friends and family. On my parenting blog I post photos and videos of the girls. I don't generally refer to them by name; not because of safety reasons. I generally refer to them as the middle schooler and the teenager, mainly so people know which kid I'm talking about.

I'm really not paranoid about it though. My question is; what do you think someone is going to do if they see a photo of your kid on your blog? If you're not posting their photo with their full name, birthday, home address, school name and address; a photo is just a photo. I'll be honest; I typically don't worry about things like that. Frankly, my biggest worries are the high school boys that prey on my teenage daughter everyday at school. Some freak on the web is the least of my worries.

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Permalink Reply by Naomi "Digitalfangirl" on September 12, 2008 at 10:45am

Tara,

I have to agree with you (read my post below). Sometimes we worry for nothing. Especially when it comes down to web activity. Meanwhile you could be living right next door to a child predator and not even know it. I tend to worry about more tangible things.
Tara said:

I post pics of my kids and I will tell you there names. I work at a tourist attraction. Do you know how many people take pics of your family and you are calling everyone of them by their name standing right beside that person that just took your pic. I see it happen all the time but there is no law in NC that says you cannot take pics in a public place. This day in age if it is going to happen nothing can stop them. How many people put your kids names in their lunch boxes, bookbags, coats, or buy those cute little zipper pulls with your kids names on them, which I sell at the tourist attraction? Is that not a pic of your child (their face) with there name on it, there is no difference.

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Permalink Reply by Mylinh on September 12, 2008 at 11:51am

No, you're not the only one who is feeling this way. I totally agree with you on this topic, however, there are some other moms out there who doesn't feel the same. It's not right or wrong, it's about each individual comfort level on sharing their personal info.

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Permalink Reply by Sarah on September 12, 2008 at 4:26pm

I do. I post pictures of my children. My opinion is that you can't live your life being paranoid. But that's just me.

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Permalink Reply by forgetfulone on September 12, 2008 at 9:59pm

Wow. So many opinions. Great topic, obviously. Elizabeth, you are most definitely not the only person who feels this way, but I must respectly disagree with the decisions as to WHY you don't post photos.

In this day and age, if someone wants to find you, whether you post real names or not, photos or not, they can find you. A little computer hacking and fiddling with IP addresses (no matter whether you think you're blocking your IP address, trust me, you're not), and they can find out who you are, where you are, etc. That is realism. People who think they can set their facebook profile to private and no one will find them have just not met the computer whizzes who can get through all that stuff.

Our kids live in a society where technology is the way. They text message, they IM, they post photos on myspace and/or facebook, and even if they don't, their friends do. My point is that you can keep their photo off the Internet for now (not when they get older) but other people who take photos at birthday parties, public places, may have your kids' pictures with theirs and may post them. Like someone else mentioned, the newspaper prints photos, and you may not even know you or your children are in them. If I'm unaware of it, is it hurting me?

It is definitely not comforting to think of a pedophile on the computer looking at a picture of your child, but it is not actually harming your child. Just like there are probably pictures of you on the Internet somewhere, and someone you'd rather not think about is looking at your photo and doing who knows what. But you don't know about it, and it doesn't harm you, right?

Some creep in his home is not going to keep me from posting pics. It makes me happy for others to see my photos that I cherish. An anyonymous person is not a threat to me and isn't going to control what I do or don't do.

Now, Internet safety is important, for sure. I don't post under my real name, but it is because I want to be open and share things I may not want my employer or even my family to read. I also don't advertise to my "real live" friends that I have a blog. They don't know my blog name or even that I have one, for the most part, even my mom and my sister. My blogging friends and the blogging community are a separate part of my life. I know that if someone wants to find me or my blog, they probably can, but I don't make it easy for them. Therefore, I feel like I can post pictures and not worry about anyone I know ever seeing it. Does that make sense?

I can't let what might be happening that I am completely unaware of dictate what I do or don't post on my blog, including pics. I already have too many other things to worry about.

But, the very nature of blogs is personal, and I respect your opinion and your choice not to post pics of your children.

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Permalink Reply by Dusty on September 13, 2008 at 3:09pm

I don't think you are paranoid. I do post pictures of my children. My blog is about my life and started for my family and friends, so I dont have a problem with it. But, I'm not the overly cautious type either.

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Permalink Reply by Jamie Squeaky on May 11, 2009 at 3:45pm

I post pictures of my children some times. It's rare but I also don't use their names or tell where we live. I give a general area and try not to give too much extra information for anyone to narrow it down. I also think its each family's choice to do what they feel is best for them. I have boys and maybe that makes it a little less of a worry. Just do what you feel comfortable with and trust your instincts.

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