Social media has transformed in the digital age, creating many online enterprises in many fields. In particular, baby and kid-focused enterprises are growing (Simone, et al. 842). Parents in these businesses post youngster videos and photos on social media. These companies want a large online audience and money. This practice, which initially seemed like harmless family moments, has raised ethical issues about child exploitation and privacy loss. The virtual portrayals of youth can look harmless and appealing. These internet endeavors are to be distinguished by their sweet photos and touching children’s films. Complex moral dilemmas are found to be more complicated when they are analyzed further. At most, children, such as newborns, toddlers, and kids, cannot be imagined as capable of giving consent to distributing their information and photos on social media. The task of parents is to protect those traits of children, who are their kids. Some families may underestimate the long-term implications of putting their kids in the digital spotlight without consent in search of online popularity and financial benefit. The monetization of children blurs the lines between family bonding and economic exploitation. It is becoming tougher to distinguish between real-life family experiences and carefully manufactured content to boost likes, shares, and sponsorship opportunities. Children introduced to influencers without their parent’s knowledge risk being objectified as commodities for corporate alliances and advertising money. Commercializing childhood disrupts family bonds and maintains improper standards and expectations for parents and children. This essay challenges the practice of parents founding social media companies using photos and videos of their children. Commercializing their kids’ internet presence is wicked because it violates their privacy, could impair their mental health, and promotes negative cultural practices.
Infringement of Children’s Privacy
When discussing the invasion of children’s privacy by parents launching kid-centered social media businesses, consent, parental responsibility, and long-term effects on the child are crucial. The most important factor is authorization. Little ones cannot fully comprehend the consequences of uploading videos or images online (Bhargava, Vikram, and Velasquez 323). Especially for pictures and videos. They cannot consent to publishing their internet presence and personal information. The second concern is that parents are responsible for protecting their children’s privacy. Parents fail when they use their children’s social media photos or videos to gain money. They prioritize financial incentives over protecting their children’s privacy and ignore the risks. Parental actions shape their children’s fate. Early digital footprints can have a major influence, especially as youngsters age. This perception, sometimes generated without the child’s consent, can affect their reputation, relationships, and school and work prospects. Thus, parents who profit from their children’s images without contemplating the long-term repercussions risk their children’s autonomy and well-being. Most often, violating adolescents’ privacy for financial gain is immoral. It violates the child’s rights and erodes trust and accountability in the parent-child connection. Ethics and regulations are needed to prevent minors from being exploited. This will protect children’s privacy in the digital age. Education regarding the long-term effects of parents’ actions is essential to promoting responsible digital parenting and defending children’s rights.
Potential Long-term Psychological Consequences
Growing concerns exist about the long-term psychological impact of social media-documented youngsters. Some studies discuss how these behaviors may harm kids’ mental health and well-being. The report highlights the serious hazards of these practices. Anxiety is one of the most significant psychological repercussions of social media exposure in children. Children who grow up in a world where everything is visible may become uneasy and disturbed. Worrying that many people may evaluate or criticize one’s online behavior might cause lifelong anxiety disorders. This fear might increase stress and unease. Children’s decreasing self-esteem must be addressed due to social media documentation (Holiday, Norman, and Densley 12). If youngsters are constantly shown idealized photographs and stories of their lives, their self-image may be distorted. Online comparisons between users’ seemingly ideal lifestyles and their own might make one feel inadequate and unworthy.
Social media has a major impact on identity development, among other domains. Online platforms shape children’s identities, making it hard to construct a coherent self-image. Peers and social media influencers’ expectations of behavior, accomplishment, and beauty can fracture a person’s sense of self and confuse who they are. A culture of validation via likes, shares, and comments can also develop into dangerous habits inspired by social media partiality. Children may engage in risky or attention-seeking conduct to get attention on social media, endangering their safety and well-being.
This ongoing demand for affirmation often results in a vicious circle in which youngsters become increasingly dependent on external validation for their self-worth. Not only do the parents put their kids in this environment, but their financial gain is put above their emotional health, an issue of great ethical concern. However, parents who value their kids’ lives just in terms of money may be the source of psychological distress to their children and that they are not worthy or valuable than other people because of their marketability.
Forcing the Society into Harmful Social Norms
The past few years have witnessed an upsurge in parents running social media enterprises dedicated to kids. The way of life turned immensely from what was known before. It is a cause of consumerism; it sustains the harmful beauty standards and disfigures the families simultaneously. The problem is that the selection of photos and videos on social media that make an idealized childhood is ultimately the intentional purpose. Society now reiterates unrealistic beauty norms by cropping and styling children, which only serves to narrow the beauty standards. These ideals are the main reason these portrayals mostly encourage unrealistic beauty standards. The psychological influence of the audience on the subject images may be such that the views may seek the same and, in the process, develop a negative body image. Social media corporations are taking advantage of children’s experiences by selling them, which only worsens the existing problem (Amon et al. 12). Children are no more than merchandise that stops being individuals, and their uniqueness as a person is devalued in favor of the business. This disregard reminds them that their uniqueness is a thing of the past, and society now must follow the false image imposed on them by such rules, thus making exploitation and compliance the new norms. This is another factor that weakens family values. Online companies promote consumerism and income. In glorifying ostentatious lifestyles and the desire for more money, the parents place the value of superficial connections and experiences above meaningful things. Hence, adolescents may incorporate these insubstantial standards into their thinking and equate success with prosperity rather than happiness and true relationships.
In summary, the fact that parents are becoming an increasing number of social media network owners to advertise their newborns and toddlers has raised some ethical problems that should be solved. The issue of children’s data privacy is what leads to this uncertainty. Parents disclosing what normally should be kept private, such as those tender moments or facts about their children, can unintentionally expose them to the world. Such a development can also be interpreted as invading their children’s privacy. The consequences of the long-term psychological impact of social media scrutiny on youth cannot be ignored. Changing your life to keep the public happy may impact your identity and freedom. It will be a reason for concern for people in their advancing years. Therefore, it is a must to improve the quality of life for seniors. The main issue is the massive social media platforms supporting negative social norms. With the demonstration of beauty ideals, gender stereotypes, and materialism, parents may unwittingly contribute to perpetuating such social phenomena. This may be the case without their awareness. They might be able to change modern-day society’s expectations and ways of thinking. These activities might be interpreted as simply normalizing bad things, thus worsening the existing problems. Such issues underpin the need for society to guard children’s privacy and safety against abuses and exploitation. Regulating tight rules preventing parents from earning money from their children’s internet usage is one of the most efficient ways to guard the youth. Parents must not let their financial gains in exchange for their children’s welfare outweigh the latter’s physical and emotional wellness. They should also refrain from infringing on their kids’ freedom and dignity. Parents will be the ones who take accountability if there happens to be a more or less ethical internet environment for kids today. A responsible society is a community that can only secure children’s safe and ethical online presence through cooperation and the “digital respect” of its citizens.
Works Cited
Amon, Mary Jean, et al. “Sharenting and children’s privacy in the United States: Parenting style, practices, and perspectives on sharing young children’s photos on social media.” Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 6. CSCW1 2022: 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1145/3512963
Bhargava, Vikram R., and Manuel Velasquez. “Ethics of the attention economy: The problem of social media addiction.” Business Ethics Quarterly 31.3 (2021): 321-359. https://doi.org/10.1017/beq.2020.32
Holiday, Steven, Mary S. Norman, and Rebecca L. Densley. “Sharenting and the extended self: Self-representation in parents’ Instagram presentations of their children.” Popular Communication 20.1 (2022): 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2020.1744610
Van Der Hof, Simone, et al. “The child’s right to protection against economic exploitation in the digital world.” The International Journal of Children’s Rights 28.4 2020: 833–859.https://doi.org/10.1163/15718182-28040003
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