Photos of babies

[littlemonkey]

A little bit on the topic of randoms using photos found on the Internet... Anyone seen tv show "catfish"? I know it's not based on baby pictures, but just shows that there are some sick people out there who like to pose as someone else

Or try to pass someones kids off as there own.

 

[bigbee]

MrsS143, When I posted this, I was looking for a second opinion...I was expecting people to say I was being silly. You do what you feel is right, there is no judgement here!

A few months back someone on here shared a link to a different pregnancy-related forum, where a girl pretended she was pregnant, she kept posting pictures of "her bump". Turned out, she stole those photos off someone else's blog. Can't remember whether it went as far as her "giving birth", and showing off her kid!!

The reason I mind friends posting photos on social media is because I don't want randoms to see my baby. don't get me wrong, he is absolutely gorgeous, and I am extremely proud my partner and I have produced such a treasure, but I just don't want people I don't know ogling over him. I'd compare that to when we go to, say, a supermarket and old dears look into the pram and start asking questions "how old? What's his name?" etc etc. I hate that.

I am not saying I won't share photos of baby, but just not yet. Anyway, my opinion about people asking still stands.

 

[MrsS143]

I think generally its a mixed bag
Some people like sharing everything
Some share nothing lol xx

 

[Maid of Kent]

I take loads of photos of my nephew but I don't post them on social media. There are plenty of people out there that can use your pictures for reasons not intended. Just because you're not friends with someone, doesn't mean that they can't access the pics. I'd never forgive myself if a stranger got hold of a picture of my nephew. There's lots of people out there that use photos of kids to pass off as their own etc. It's personal opinion though but for me, pics of kids are a no no on social media.

 

[littlemonkey]

I think generally its a mixed bag
Some people like sharing everything
Some share nothing lol xx

This is it, I've never been one to share my entire life online and personally I don't feel the need to.

 

[laurat]

I think it is completely a personal opinion and people should be able to make their own choice on their child. I would always respect that which is the important thing.

In terms of 'sick people' unfortunately these horrors are peoples friends and family and nobody knew about it. Trusted people so you cant technically eliminate them from your life as you dont know who they are. Thats horrible to say but iits very rarely these folk are not a complete shock to those about them.

If you think too much into it then it is a minefield. They can access your camera roll on your phone through wi-fi connections and you being in a public place. They can work in a camera developing place. I personally cant and wont let fear of people llike this stop me from living my life and sharing my joy of my boy. I take all precautions with who I am friends with and would say I dont overly post my life but I think photos are brilliant and I love taking them and capturing moments thar are truely special and at times sharing them with friends and family on facebook.

 

[mylullaby]

The thing is, even if your fb settings are "private" the moment your friend clicks "like" on your baby's photo it can be seen by all their friends - and the public if their settings aren't private. It's that lack of control that I don't feel comfortable with. That one baby pic could potentially be seen by millions of people you don't know. I think I would be ok with it if my baby happened to appear in a group photo with lots of people, but not sure I would feel the same about someone posting loads of photos of just my baby as you just don't know where they'll end up. The internet is riddled with complete freaks. I don't want some random weirdo posting my baby photos on picsofcutebabies.com or whatever. I also think that children are entitled to a bit of privacy and unless you're in a position to remove every photo of them with one click when they turn 18 then it's a little unfair. It can be hard enough managing your online footprint as it is, without having to deal with a load of random photos your mum posted when you were too young to have any say in it. I wonder when the first child v parent lawsuit will happen with a child claiming its parents have failed to respect its privacy?! Can you imagine the embarrassment of all your baby/childhood photos being posted on social media? I see photos of kids on the potty, etc and just think it's a bit of an invasion of their privacy. I do appreciate that it's down to individual opinion though and that it's the parents view that counts xx

 

[littlemonkey]

Mylullaby I do think about what you've said sometimes. It was my dad who first mentioned it to me, how would I feel if they'd put pictures of us kids like that up for the world to see.

 

[kitten2014]

also another voter for keep it off FB and other social media, we had this same rule and especially emphasised it with my Dads family as quite a few keen FB'ers who let it rule their life. We very rarely go on every month or so to see what other ppl are doing...also believe that our baby has no choice atm so we are responsible for her privacy until she's old enough to decide for herself...

 

[mylullaby]

I realise that mine is seen as a bit of an extreme view and I was a fairly avid fb user for years, but I've come off recently and I don't like the idea of not being in control of where photos of my child will end up. That doesn't mean I won't be taking lots of photos of my child (and posting some on my private Instagram account) - it just means I'm wary of fb and other more public social media platforms on the whole. Hubby feels the same so I think we'll just tell people they can take pics if they want to but don't post them online. xx

 

[Snaveanator]

Im not fussed about friends and family taking photos. They want to enjoy my children too and so what if they take photos of my kids? I trust my friends and family so know they're not going to do anything sinister with the photos. I wouldn't dream of not letting my parents take pictures of them! My mum spends all evening sitting looking at pics of her grand kids!

I don't really post many pics of them on fb, but I'm not fussed about if someone else wants to, provided the photos are decent, non offensive and the genitals are covered (I once did have to ask a friend to remove a picture of my son a few years ago as you could see his willy!).

Some friends of mine don't post any pics of their children online and I don't take offence to that, or find it strange and completely respect their decisions. Them reminding us not to share photos online isn't a problem either as it's their wishes and they obviously feel strongly about it.

 

[Snaveanator]

Mylullaby my Instagram is set to private and people that aren't following me can still see pics somehow! I think it's from words you wrote in the caption (not even hashtags!)

 

[mylullaby]

Oh ffs!! Just when I thought I had an alternative!! Thanks for the heads up xx

So what if you don't write any words in the caption...?!?? Then would they be private?? I realise you may not have the answers btw, just thinking out loud xx

 

[nicejuicypear]

My view on it is: I don't like many photos of me being online, I like to choose what photos of me go up online, so why shouldn't my child have that choice? By posting photos of kids up online all over the place, you're removing their choice for privacy at a later date. I don't think there's much of a risk of paedophiles doing much, especially since most photos of kids cover their genitals and really, what will a paedophile get out of a picture of my baby in a highchair, or sleeping, fully clothed? It's simply about their chance to have privacy.

Haven't we all got photos in the family album that our parents coo over and think are lovely but we hate and cringe at? Imagine if yours were shown to the world long before you had a chance to have a say in it? Online photos are becoming the norm and probably most people will have accounts like this by the time our babies are adults, but there will always be some people who don't want to do this and we don't know if our kids are going to be like that.

Sometimes I see a cute photo of my daughter and think about sharing it online, I only have about 50 friends on facebook, all people I know well, so it wouldn't be distributed to all and sundry but I still think about how she might hate these photos being there when she's older. I don't think I will put NO photos online but the ones I do will be a limited few.

 

[mylullaby]

I agree with most of what you said but I really think you're being naive if you think there aren't people out there in the world who get off on all sorts of photos that we would consider perfectly normal/innocent. Of course I'm not saying that every photo of a child on Facebook will be stalked by paedophiles worldwide, but I don't think you can rule out photos just because genitals aren't visible. Don't want to try to delve into the mind of someone like that, but I think it's fair to say that any photo available publicly online could be used for any reason with very little control once it's out there. That is fine if they want to get their kicks out of photos of my feet, photos of me eating my lunch or even photos of my pets. Not so much with photos of my kids. Again, I do realise this is an extreme view and I'm not saying that all photos will be used like this. But I think I would just rather limit the likelihood of even a single photo getting into the wrong hands. And then there's the cringey bit you mention too and yes most of my childhood photos are embarrassing and not something I would want in the public domain!! Ha! xx

 

[Orion]

I don't really understand the 'it could fall into the wrong hands' view. What a random stranger does with photos in their own home isn't going to hurt the people in the photos. It's not nice to think about but I don't think you can live your life in the 'what ifs'. I mean, are you never going to take your child swimming or to the beach because strangers will see them in their swimming trunks or playing naked on the sand? They might even take a photo of them naked on the beach. Will it stop families going on holiday? No of course not.

It's fair enough not wanting to post your whole life online, or asking others not to post your life on their FB wall. But the argument that the photos might be used by the small percentage of people who will do something they shouldn't without you knowing is a bit ott in my opinion.

 

[Becky1]

I don't really understand the 'it could fall into the wrong hands' view. What a random stranger does with photos in their own home isn't going to hurt the people in the photos. It's not nice to think about but I don't think you can live your life in the 'what ifs'. I mean, are you never going to take your child swimming or to the beach because strangers will see them in their swimming trunks or playing naked on the sand? They might even take a photo of them naked on the beach. Will it stop families going on holiday? No of course not.

It's fair enough not wanting to post your whole life online, or asking others not to post your life on their FB wall. But the argument that the photos might be used by the small percentage of people who will do something they shouldn't without you knowing is a bit ott in my opinion.

I couldn't agree more. I share pictures of my son online on my fb account, it is private and set to not share with friends of friends. My son is gorgeous and I want everyone to see that I would never put a pic of him naked etc on there. There are plenty of pictures of babies/children out there for the small minority to do something unthinkable with (think baby catalogues, next, mothercare, for them to bother to hack into my fb account.

I have shared group pics of my son with others but have always checked and other friends have done the same.

It's so true about holidays or swimming too, surely no ones going to stop doing these out of paranoia? I bet if I look through my holiday snaps there's loads of other children in the background!

X

 

[nicejuicypear]

I don't think I'm being naive, but there's no harm in people seeing photos of a fully dressed child, from a paedophilia point of view. People could get off on pictures of my dog but I still put them up. Like the other posters have said, someone could take photos of our kids and babies in the street, park, playground etc and use them for salacious means.

I think it's ott to worry about fully clothed photos getting in the wrong hands but it's your opinion and your justification for not wanting your child's photos everywhere so your friends and family should still respect your wishes on the matter.

 

[mylullaby]

Yep. I think it's a matter of personal opinion and what matters is that other people respect your view as a parent. Like I said, I'm well aware I'm pointing out one tiny extreme when I'm making the points I'm making. My reasons for not posting pics all over fb (aside from the fact I'm not on it!) are more about saving my child from embarrassment and giving them a bit of privacy as opposed to hysteria about the pics being see by a paedophile. Although have to admit the lack of control about where they could end up does play on my mind xx