Tanzanian artiste, Diamond Platnumz and the mother of two of his kids, Zari Hassan, have verified Instagram accounts for both the children; @princess_tiffah and @princenillan with three million and 1.4m followers respectively. But the two celebrities aren’t the only ones who have social media profiles for their kids that they (the parents) manage, many people—famous or not—do this nowadays. The fast-growing trend is where parents create and run social media accounts for their children as soon as they are born, and start updating the followers they may have on their day-to-day lives. But what’s the point, one may wonder. Emmanuel Gahigana, a father of two, supports the idea of kids having their own Instagram or Facebook accounts at a young age, highlighting that unlike before when memories were kept in photo albums, today technology has made life better. He says that when the child’s social media account has their pictures, especially on important days like birthdays, among other days, those are memories created to show them when they are old enough. “As a proud father, I would want people to know about my children’s achievements, growth and developments, and it gives them more confidence to communicate and practice their social skills. For example, I have taught them to learn how to critically discern information which is useful and which is not,” he says. Immaculee Niyonsaba recalls posting her kids’ pictures one time on her Facebook page; however, she was disappointed in how bitter people can be. A stranger’s comment on the post insulted the kids’ appearance, followed by other mean statements. That’s when she swore never to post her family again. She disagrees with the idea of posting kids on social media, and thinks it’s better to allow them to make that choice when they are old enough. Niyonsaba says that when kids grow up and notice bitter comments, they may be dispirited, a thing that may affect their self-esteem and make them question their identity. She says that even adults are still struggling with how to manage social media, for her, the moment a picture is shared online, it’s out of your control and you have no idea how many people can screenshot and use it for whatever reason. Niyonsaba points out that nowadays, parents violate children’s privacy, and as they grow, they will think that it is okay or normal to share their information anyhow. She also adds that as much as you want to keep your children’s privacy, respect other people’s children as well by asking for parent’s permission before posting them. Niyonsaba adds that before you think of sharing the kid’s photo; consider the effect sharing can have on your child’s future well-being. She discourages posting photos of kids half naked whether having a bath or playing, because you never know who they may turn out to be in the future, and such photos might pop up. “Don’t include locations, or tagging places because you can’t know who may want to harm your child,” she says. According for Forbes, technology coupled with parents’ behaviour is increasingly putting children at risk for identity theft, humiliation, various privacy violations, future discrimination, and causing concern about developmental issues related to autonomy and consent. VeryWell Family states that sharing anything on social media comes with certain dangers and this includes sharing photos of your child. This often causes the creation of a digital footprint for your child, which can have negative effects including loss of privacy, financial scams, and potential embarrassment to your kids. “Even though there are risks with sharing on social media, this doesn’t mean you should never share photos of your child. Although some experts completely advise against it, there are many tips and tricks to help you share photos of your child safely. Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, it’s advisable to use the strictest privacy settings these accounts offer anywhere you will be sharing photos of your child. Also, have a conversation with family and friends who will be following the account and let them know you don’t want your child’s photos shared.”
