Being raised in this generation of new technology, it seems that most teenagers and young adults naturally have the knowledge of how to operate social media properly; our parents, on the other hand, are not so lucky.
Many parents use social media, which makes sense because it makes keeping in touch with friends and family a lot easier than any other platform, but for some reason parents cannot seem to get the hang of it. That’s not to say that all parents don’t know what they’re doing on social media, but it is fair to say that most are lost. The biggest mistake parents make on social media, in particular Facebook, is over posting, and since most of their posts are about their children, they tend to over share about their kids.
Posting about your children is by no means a bad thing, but there is definitely a fine line between keeping family and friends informed on achievements of your child and sharing what can only be defined as “too much information.” Putting up photos of your child’s sporting event or academic event is always good, but giving everyone a daily account of your child’s day is pretty unnecessary. I get that you are trying to keep the people whom you don’t get to speak with everyday up to date with what’s going on in your kid’s life, but it’s doubtful that your great aunt was really wondering what you made your son or daughter for dinner.
Another item that should be left off social media is accounts of how you have disciplined your child. First of all, this will only embarrass your kid. Making their mistakes publically known is not okay. Besides, no one wants to see, nor will they read, a three paragraph description of the elaborate way you were able to teach your child some important life lesson on their feed.
It is a good thing that parents use social media, and it is important that they celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of their children, but it is also important that they steer clear of over posting and sharing information that does not belong on Facebook. I think your friends will understand if you cease to inform of them the intimate details of your child’s daily activities.