Pictures. I've been debating whether to add pictures of The Boy and The Girl on my blog. I'm a bit paranoid about it, but I still want to share. So many bloggers (and non-bloggers) out there seem to have no problem with using pictures on the internet, but for some reason it causes me to fret.
Recently, I found a couple pictures of my children that my dad's wife posted online. They are still online, but I had to talk to my dad's wife about the situation because she was also posting their first and last names in the caption, which for me is an absolute NO NO. Now, I've been thinking... and reading... and thinking some more about this topic. As far as using pictures AND names, that's NOT going to happen on my watch. I've read to many warnings about doing that type of thing (for example check out... Take Your Children Offline NOW on David W. Boles' Urban Semiotic [warning somewhat graffic with some harsh language]).
BUT is this a little over-the-top? Would it REALLY be that easy if there were no names to follow? Would using pictures with no captions or other identifying marks be ok? I have read other articles that say these are misguided worries (see Is Posting Children's Pictures Online Dangerous? by Stacy Shattuck as an example). Then there's those who say there is a possibility of there being a security issue since the pictures can be used in ways not originally intended by others (see Picture this!-- Part IV of the mom blog series by Jennifer Satterwhite). This article also pointed out that there's always the possibility of your child's picture being posted by a school, a park, etc. for marketing purposes or even just by the local paper. This is where I start to think that maybe it's alright... and as pointed out my kids don't live in a bubble (although I am a little overprotective, so I'd like to keep them in a bubble sometimes)!
Of course there's always the issue of my children's privacy rights... which they're currently too young to stand up for. How much is too much? Is just my blogging about them bad as well?
So, I'll continue to think on this topic. It's a tough decision for me... I'm starting to lean towards sharing, but I'll have to learn how to protect those pictures. Any comments would be welcome to help steer me in either direction... I'm teetering!
Saturday, August 25, 2007
To Use or Not To Use...
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2 Others Chatting to Clear their Heads:
Thank you for the great links. I think about these privacy and security issues a lot and go back and forth on it. I do post pictures, but use "blog names."
However, a couple of newspapers recently wrote about my blog and used my real name, so, huh. Then just yesterday, a national photographer took photos of my oldest at the park for our city's marketing campaign. As it wasn't planned, I didn't think about it until after-the-fact... So many issues to consider.
I look forward to seeing what and why you decide.
I usually don't publish my kids pics on my blog. If I do it's usually such a close up that you can't see who they are anyway. I'm a worry-wart and I just don't feel comfortable.
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