Hi Sasha. My daughter is a flower girl in a wedding. I'm concerned about the pictures and the online presence she might receive because of it. I do not post any pictures of her on social media and I don't know how to handle this upcoming event. I am stressed out about it because I feel that she should decide, when she's old enough, if she wants any of her pictures floating around. How do I manage this? Am I being too uptight? M
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This generation of kids is the first one in human history to have their lives shared on a public forum that is not only easily accessible to everyone you know but unfortunately to every creepo you don’t know. It’s f-cked, warped and I don’t know how to change it. So I do give you props, M, for trying to make this a very purposeful decision on your part.
We've seen this social media mission spearheaded by a lot of celebrity moms and I think the takeaway here is if you don’t want your kids on all these platforms then don’t prance them around the lion’s den of hungry commenters, likers, taggers and retweeters. Obviously you can’t lock your kid up until she’s legal, but you sure as sh-t can get take some measures to lessen the risk, and M, signing your daughter up to look adorable as sh-t in a cute dress, holding flowers down an aisle isn’t the way to go if social anonymity is what you want that day.
You’re basically inviting people to take pictures of her and once you do that you can’t Ariana Grande the photos and make demands on what people can and can't do with the pictures. I mean, of course, you can politely ask that they don’t load them up, but realistically a few will fall through the cyber cracks.
So look M, if you are absolutely against having an on-line persona for your daughter then having her a part of a spectacle that is all about capturing and documenting moments isn't the way to go about it.
Thanks for writing in and keep your questions coming to [email protected]
