Sharenting, Parenting, and Identifying: Can Privacy Prevail?

Abstract

Technology and privacy are intertwined and often in conflict with each other. Nowhere is this more evident than in sharenting, the transmission of private details about children (e.g., pictures) via digital channels (e.g., social media) by an adult in charge of their well-being (i.e., parent or guardian). Sharenting can offer comfort to a parent, a sense of belonging to a community, and can give children a sense of pride from likes from family and friends. However, there are privacy and developmental risks for children from sharenting. We explore the relative roles of parent identity verification and the calculus of behavior in affecting sharenting decisions. Using data collected from 309 parents, we find that only perceived risk of sharenting affects the frequency of deleting posts while benefits and parental identity lead to a positive affect towards sharenting. Positive affect, however, is not linked to changes in frequency of deleting posts.