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Recently, Parent24 reported on an American teen who put her foot down, saying her blogging mom can no longer share content about her on social media.
Read the full story here: This teen is sick of being used as content by her blogger mom, so she had "NO PHOTOS" printed on her clothes
We recently spoke to three South African mom-bloggers whose Instagram pages are filled with adorable pictures of their children, to find out how they approach the issue of oversharing online.
Each new day, the mommy blogger community grows as a new Instagram or blog is started by a mother wanting to share her journey.
But what happens one day when these children decide they no longer want their personal lives to be shared far and wide?
A mother's creative journey
Nuriyah is a mother to three girls, a business woman, creative and a mom-blogger.
On her Instagram-page, raising_the_gallow_girls, she gladly shares content of Giana, 11, Micah, 7, and Israh, 11 months.
After giving birth to her third daughter, Israh, in 2019 she started her online business, Squishy Tushy, which would ultimately inspire curated posts on Instagram.
"I've always followed bloggers on Instagram and did not have a big following or curated posts. I just posted whatever I wanted, and did not put too much thought into it," she shares.
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After her third baby was born, Nuriyah approached sharing on Instagram differently - she put more thought into her posts.
She describes her creative taste as a "neutrals, naturals type of thing" which is evident when you look at her Instagram grid.
She also dives into what it's like being a mother of three and a new business woman, like the post below.
When asked whether she'd stop posting about her children on social media if they ask her not to, Nuri confidently says yes.
"I can't force them to do something they are not comfortable with. If they'd ask that I even remove the content that I have already shared, I'd certainly do it."
For now it seems like the girls love being part of their mother's creative journey.
'My life, my experiences'
Mother of two, Nicole, also known as raising.k.squared on Instagram, says, "I wanted to write about my life, my experiences, my children and motherhood (mainly) and so one day I opened up WordPress after googling 'blogs' and BOOM, that’s where I started."
She says that her daughter, Kirsten, loves creating content for social media especially.
"If they ask me to take their photos off social media, I would certainly do it. They do deserve their privacy and I respect that," Nicole says.
Kirsten, being the eldest, often goes on the Instagram page and suggests what they should share.
"She knows what is on the page and she can read, so we are transparent in terms of that and there's mutual respect. As for Kieran, 3, he is too small to understand a lot of it but when he gets to a stage where he would not want me to post him anymore, I would definitely take it down immediately."
'I won't use their photos without consent'
When asked if she'd close down her page if her children asked her to, Nicole replies, "I wouldn't ever close my page. I'd continue blogging about motherhood and my life, but I won't use their photos without their consent."
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Social media platforms are not always safe and Facebook and Instagram continue to innovate measures to improve the safety of the platforms for their users.
"I did go through a phase where I considered removing their faces from social media, especially with abductions of children being a reality, but then I decided against it," Nicole says.
She has decided not to post content of them when they are at a specific location, but share it later on instead to alleviate any safety concerns.
"I often go through my list of followers, and block the people I do not know."
"I can't say it is 100% safe, but I believe it is at least safer. Safety is a very big concern for me and I am always wary about it, but I have been fortunate enough to not experience any challenge in terms of safety and hope it remains that way."
'My journey as a mother'
Adi Hoffmeester, also a mother of two like Nicole, often shares her children on her Instagram page, homewithadi.
She admits she'd gladly remove her children from social media if they requested it.
"My social media posts are about my journey as a mother, and I think I can still share content relating to that without sharing their faces on social media."
"The reality is being in the public eye is not for everyone, not everyone can handle it. If it happens to not be for my children [one day], I can respect that," Adi shares.
Now that you have heard what a few mommy bloggers have said, what are your thoughts on sharing you children on social media?
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