Parents' Social Media Use Reflects Their Parenting Style

parental sharing parents using social media parenting style permissive parenting

By Jo Anne Hubert , Parent Herald Sep 10, 01:39 am

Photo: (Photo : Pexel/Rodnae Productions)

Social media can be both a blessing and a curse. It can be informative and convenient yet addictive and destructive at the same time. Parents in this millennial timezone should be ready to navigate it the right way with their kids. They should know its limits to protect their kids from being too exposed to it.

The University of Central Florida (UCF) and Indiana University Bloomington conducted a joint study that revealed parents' social media usage reflects their parenting style. How parents interact through social media and the frequency of posting photos of their children on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram plays a significant role in their children's usage and exposure to the digital realm, according to Maggie Clancy of Scary Mommy blog.

The survey had 493 parents who have kids under the age of 10 and are regular social media users. The study showed that those parents who regularly post photos of their children on social media tend to have a more permissive and confident parenting style. These parents also allow their children to engage with social media at younger ages.

Dangers of permissive parenting

The research also divulged that these parents have no problem sharing their posts and their children's photos beyond small networks of family and friends and on more public platforms. And, they have no qualms with family and friends resharing their posts and photos. They do not see parental sharing, which is sharing photos of children, strongly different from regular photos or post sharing. These parents also rarely ask for their children's approval or thoughts about the photos they post.

This parenting behavior has already created tension and controversies regarding children's privacy and safety concerns.

One of the researchers, Mary Jean Amon, assistant professor in the School of Modeling, Simulation, and Training (SMST) at UCF, said, "Contrary to previous research that highlights the significant benefits of parental sharing, our study reveals that such sharing of children's photos is associated with permissive parenting styles. That means parental sharing is linked to those parents having more friend-like relationships with their children and offering less guidance than other parents. Notably, permissive parenting has been linked to problematic internet usage among children."

She further stated that there is no doubt that parents are being careful with what they share online concerning their children. She also agreed that sharing photos with parents' support groups like grandparents, relatives, and close friends can have the significant benefits of building closer connections and opening doors of encouragement and inspiration. However, she raises concerns about privacy issues and the "unique risks" when sharing children's information online, the easy availability of and exposure to social media of kids at young ages, and its long-term impact on the children.

What do the children want, if they can decide?

Another study result showed that these parents assume that their children enjoy the photos they have posted instead of being embarrassed by them.

Questions and issues about children's privacy in social media are broad and wide, yet the central question remains. How much autonomy and control do children have, regardless of age, over their photos and information exposed and posted online? Here lies a vital problem that needs to be solved, Amon emphasized in an interview with UCF Today.

The research team continually investigates the significant connection between parental sharing and its impact on children. The group aims to answer the speculation that one of the effects of parental sharing is children being insensitive and less careful of what and how they will share their own photos and information online. The team would want their study to help parents on how to use social media in ways that can positively support raising their children.