What Is Sharenting? And Why Your Kid Will Sue You for It Someday
Thursday, March 20, 2025.
There was a time when embarrassing family photos stayed safely in a dusty album, seen only by aunts with dubious taste in sweaters.
Then, the internet happened.
And with it, an entirely new species of parental oversharing emerged.
Enter sharenting—the perfectly blended word-smoothie of sharing and parenting, which, like most internet trends, started with good intentions and quickly veered into utter chaos.
Sharenting: A Modern Tale of Parental Oversharing
Sharenting—a delightful portmanteau of "sharing" and "parenting"—refers to parents' habitual posting of their children's photos, videos, and anecdotes on social media platforms. It's as if every child is born with a built-in public relations team, ensuring their every move is documented for the masses.
A Brief History of Parental Oversharing, or “How We Got Here”
The instinct to document one’s child is as old as time.
Before social media, parents showcased baby photos through more primitive means—Christmas cards, fridge magnets, wallets stuffed with physical photographs. You’d be trapped at a family gathering, forced to nod politely at grainy pictures of Cousin Timmy’s first spaghetti encounter.
Then, Facebook was born. And suddenly, everyone had an unlimited audience for their kid’s every milestone, mishap, and bowel movement.
By 2010, researchers began noticing something strange: parents were treating social media like a 24/7 reality show starring their offspring, broadcasting everything from first steps to tantrums at Target. The phenomenon was coined sharenting (Blum-Ross & Livingstone, 2017), and it took off faster than a toddler on a sugar high.
Features of Sharenting: A Field Guide
Sharenting comes in many shapes and sizes, but here are the primary subspecies:
1. The Milestone Maniac
Posts baby’s first word, first tooth, first time eating peas, first existential crisis.
Caption: “She’s growing up too fast! 😭” (Your baby is five months old.)
2. The Humblebragger
Every post begins with “Not to brag, but…” before bragging shamelessly.
Includes certificates, test scores, and minor victories blown wildly out of proportion (e.g., “Liam was voted ‘Most Improved Napper’ in preschool! Future CEO?”).
3. The Oversharer
Their updates contain zero boundaries and often include:
Diaper disasters (with photos)
Unwanted medical details (“Tommy’s rash is getting worse. Thoughts??”)
Prepubescent awkward phases their child will pay a therapist to forget
4. The Exploiter (aka The Child Influencer Parent)
Uses child as content fodder for viral engagement.
Kid has an Instagram before they can read.
There is merch involved.
The Science of Why Parents Can’t Stop Doing This
Social scientists have attempted to explain the irresistible urge to turn children into tiny social media celebrities. The leading theories:
Validation Addiction – Parents, much like teenagers and narcissists, enjoy likes, shares, and digital applause(Uhls et al., 2017). Posting about their child provides instant gratification and a false sense of community.
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) – Parents feel pressured to keep up with other sharenters. If everyone else is posting little Ethan’s science fair ribbon, failure to post your kid’s participation trophy might imply neglect.
The Digital Scrapbook Justification – Some parents genuinely believe they’re archiving precious memories, completely ignoring the fact that nothing on the internet is private, ever (Steinberg, 2017).
The Ethical and Psychological Fallout
Here’s the problem: kids grow up. And one day, they will Google themselves.
Studies show that by age 5, most children already have an online presence created entirely by their parents (Kopecky et al., 2020). By the time they hit their teens, many express embarrassment, resentment, and even legal action against their own parents for posting without consent (Bessant, 2020).
Some experts suggest that sharenting violates a child’s right to privacy (Lipu & Siibak, 2019). It can also:
🚨 Expose them to identity theft (Yes, really. Their birthday + last name = hacker paradise).
🚨 Create a permanent digital footprint they had no say in.
🚨 Fuel family conflicts once the child realizes you posted their potty-training struggle to 800 people.
The Future of Sharenting: Will Our Kids Revolt?
A quiet revolution is brewing.
Some Gen Alpha kids are already demanding takedowns of their baby photos.
Others are suing their parents for invasion of privacy (Bessant, 2020). And given that many of today’s parents grew up without digital permanence, they are wildly unprepared for the backlash.
Countries like France have even proposed laws limiting parental control over a child’s digital identity (Bourdon, 2022).
Meanwhile, American teenagers are starting to call out their parents publicly, leading to the rise of anti-sharenting movements where kids beg adults to, simply, STOP POSTING THEM.
So… Should You Stop Sharenting?
Not necessarily. But maybe… think before you post?
✔️ Would you want this photo online if it were of you?
✔️ Does your child understand and consent? (And if they’re a baby, the answer is no.)
✔️ Is it embarrassing? Cringe? If so, consider a private album instead of blasting it to the world.
In the end, sharenting—like all things in the digital age—requires balance.
Because someday, the child whose tantrum you posted will be an adult. And they just might have screenshots of your cringiest Facebook posts as revenge.
Be Well, Stay Kind, and Godspeed.
REFERENCES:
Bessant, Judith. 2020. Making-Up People: Youth, Truth and Politics. Routledge.
Blum-Ross, Alicia, and Sonia Livingstone. 2017. “Sharenting,‘ Peer Parenting and the Construction of Childhood Identity on Social Media.” Parenting for a Digital Future. London School of Economics.
Bourdon, Sylvain. 2022. “Children’s Rights in the Digital Age: Legal and Ethical Concerns of Sharenting.”European Journal of Child Law, 29(3): 189-210.
Kopecky, K., K. Smahel, and D. Smahelova. 2020. “Children’s Privacy in the Age of Social Media: A Global Study.” Cyberpsychology Journal, 14(2).
Lipu, Mari-Liis, and Andra Siibak. 2019. “‘Take It Down!’: Estonian Pre-Teens’ Experiences with Parents Sharing Their Lives on Social Media.” Cyberpsychology Journal, 13(1): 1-18.
Steinberg, Stacey. 2017. “Sharenting: Children’s Privacy in the Age of Social Media.” Emory Law Journal, 66(4): 839-884.
Uhls, Yalda T., et al. 2017. “The Digital Self: How Social Media Serves as a Setting for Identity Development.”Adolescent Research Review, 2(2): 125-139.