Thursday, April 7, 2011
Report: Majority of Children Have Online Presence Before Age Two
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2370387,00.asp Think about your facebook experience, you see pictures and videos of your friend's children and nieces and nephews. This article is about how digital footprints are being created for children under the age of two. The age of photo albums is over and giving way to digital photo albums. The article goes on to say "About 7 percent of babies and toddlers have had their parents secure them an e-mail address, while 5 percent have a social-networking page. The study showed moderate concern for privacy; on a scale of one to five, with five being very concerned, the average was 3.5.". Do you think it's a good idea to put your child on the internet before they even know what it is? Do you think this is the direction our world is going in is children having status updates that span their lifetime?
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As a parent I think with the way technology is now it is so much easier to post your pictures online and then have family and friends view them. Even though they don't know what the internet is they have an idea of what it can do.
ReplyDeleteI think this is definitely the way the world is going. Soon you'll see it common when a baby is born what their status updates is via internet. This is also a useful tool when family and loved ones are far away.
Putting pictures online for family and friends to see is ok, especially since everybody does it. However, creating a social identity for infants is crossing the line. I don't think they should have status updates before they know what they are. To an extent I think it violates their future independence. Nonetheless, this is absolutely the way that society is heading. Perhaps I am being stubborn with regards to traditional methods of raising an infant, but I know that when I eventually do have children I will not be creating a social network profile for them or an e-mail address.
ReplyDeleteI had a few minutes in my second period class this week and I talked briefly about this topic. I had a few of my students "Google" themselves and see what came up. Some students were shocked that pictures, their Facebook page, blog posts, and various other things had come up. We talked about what this means when they eventually apply for jobs or college in a few years. All of the students agreed that they knew a lot about the internet but didn't know how to stay hidden.
ReplyDeleteThis is going to be an issue in years to come. What are we going to do when everyone has a digital footprint that may include embarrassing things?
My sister-in-law was adamant that no one in the family post any pictures of her son even without a name, and I never understood why. I think there is some fear, real or not, of a stranger danger type of situation, where pedophiles could target a child they found online. I agree with Tim that creating social identities for infants is too much. I also believe that the train has left the station on this issue, in that everyone is doing it now and it does have wonderful benefits like being able to keep loved ones who are far away updated.
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