My FACELESS Facebook Daughter

In an world where everything is shared and posted without a second thought – my husband and I are in the minority (and were given some strange looks) when we informed friends and family that our daughter wouldn’t be put all over Social Media. Now before you think I’m crazy – here are a few reasons why we came to this decision:

  1. Sharing – I know what my privacy settings are – but what about all those who will hit the dreaded “share” button – then who knows where the picture of my daughter will end up. It is also so easy to save a picture to any device and then the sharing can continue and reach far beyond the initial intention.
  2. My husband’s job– my husband works as a Police Officer and you just never know who is out there with not so good intentions or motives. We didn’t want unwanted individuals to be able to recognize our daughter because of pictures they found online.
  3. My daughter’s privacy and rights – this is a huge one for us. As parents we are the ones who have the ability to make decisions that our daughter cannot – but who are we to develop an entire digital history that she did not agree to?

When my husband and I first discussed this we did decide to post one newborn picture when she was born, since they change so fast. After the newborn picture we planned to do zero pictures, which proved to be extremely difficult, so instead we ended up with the Faceless Facebook child, and post pictures like these:

noface FB

To me it is the best of both worlds – I still get to share fun pictures of my daughter, but without putting her face all over the internet for all to see.

I am in no way judging those who post pictures, in fact I love being able to see them! I just encourage parents to be smart about social media, and think about how and what is being shared. Each family will have a different level of comfort with what they put on the internet and that is okay – just do me (and your child(ren)) a favor and remember to put the safety of your children before a cute picture. Here are three tips to help safely share pictures on social media:

  1. Do not share specific locations where you drop them off (this includes “checking in”).
  2. Turn the location function off on your phone’s photo settings. If not, even though you may not share the location of the picture the picture itself can have a location attached to it.
  3. Be aware what pictures you are posting – avoid embarrassing pictures, pictures of bath time, injuries, or other moments that should be kept private.

What are your thoughts on posting your child(ren) on social media?

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Nicole G.
Nicole is a mom to two children each with big personalities - Reagan is currently 4 and Tyler is 2, they are exactly 26 months apart to the day, and ever since Tyler was born life has been non-stop! She's a stay-at-home/work-at-home mom who works full time as a virtual Social Studies teacher for middle and high school students. Although she was originally from the North Hills, 10 days before Reagan was born her and her husband relocated to the South Hills. (However, within the year they will be heading back North of the city to be closer to family). Nicole would rather spend time outdoors, preferably in the fall with a good book and a cup of coffee (or glass of wine), but realistically she is generally multi-tasking between work and the kids. She does love cooking and can often be seen having dance parties in the kitchen (usually with Reagan) while making dinner.