Althouse: "Could the fact that children already exist as online entities affect a child’s 'ability to develop their own sense of self'?"

September 11, 2019

"Could the fact that children already exist as online entities affect a child’s 'ability to develop their own sense of self'?"

"... Some kids grow to be embarrassed by what their parents post, while others wonder why they aren’t featured even more. Mine might one day wonder why so many videos exist of him asking for 'jazz,' which, for a while, was the word he used instead of 'music.' 'Sharenthood' didn’t resolve anything for me, and maybe that’s asking too much. In the end, Plunkett’s advice is to 'make more mindful choices' about our digital lives. Yet parenthood is often such a blur that mindfulness seems impossible, a kind of deliberation and peace that might as well be another country."

From "Instagram, Facebook, and the Perils of 'Sharenting'" by Hua Hsu (The New Yorker).

20 comments:

tim in vermont said...: “Thoughtful” and “considered” are such better words than “mindful” which doesn’t really mean anything.; 9/11/19, 6:33 PM
The Bergall said...: Facepalm...............; 9/11/19, 6:36 PM
rcocean said...: Hsu Hsu = who's who.; 9/11/19, 6:38 PM
Darrell said...: There are more perils in sharting.; 9/11/19, 6:48 PM
Seeing Red said...: RME.; 9/11/19, 6:48 PM
Fernandinande said...: My existence as an online entity has affected my ability to develop my own sense of self so I followed some free advice on the internets and made more mindful choices about my digital life.

After that my sense of self affected my own ability to develop as an online entity, so I reversed the free advice and made less mindful choices about my digital life and ended up back where I started except for about 2 gallons of gas wasted.; 9/11/19, 7:15 PM
rhhardin said...: In 1963 online meant the computer was in tactical mode. Offline meant you could mess with it.; 9/11/19, 7:25 PM
rhhardin said...: Best toys ever.; 9/11/19, 7:26 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Some kids grow to be embarrassed by what their parents post? Isn't embarrassing your kids the whole point of breeding?; 9/11/19, 7:32 PM
wildswan said...: I think there's a good possibility that online stuff about children will end up in a dossier from which their "social credit score" will be developed - and those of their parents. At a minimum marketers will know their preferences. But more is being revealed. I know this because I found a eugenic society members tweets stored online in a public place where he chose to archive them. And I looked up all his references - movies, music, foods, places - in order to get a sense of what the younger generation of eugenicists were like. It was truly startling how well I knew him in the end. It was far ahead of what you get from a biography or a New Yorker profile - light years ahead. It was like how you know a roommate in college - yet this was a stranger and not someone I liked at all. It took time, that's the only saving thing. It would take time to really know a stranger based on his or her digital track BUT you WOULD know him. But, of course, the government would be looking to pigeonhole and categorize so it wouldn't really find out anything, except just to accumulate an excuse to push someone around.; 9/11/19, 7:48 PM
Leland said...: I can't say these concerns come close to the failure to explain biological sexes or the value of vaccination. There's a lot parents can do to embarrass their children that have nothing to do with the internet, such as having a subscription to The New Yorker.; 9/11/19, 8:01 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Parents who share details of their children's lives online should be embarrassed and shamed. You have your own life to share, but you don't have the right to share someone elses that way, even that of your kids.; 9/11/19, 10:54 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Yet parenthood is often such a blur that mindfulness seems impossible, a kind of deliberation and peace that might as well be another country.

Uh, author knows that's a deliberate choice, right? The way to raise your kids in a more mindful fashion is to slow down and raise your kids in a more mindful fashion.; 9/11/19, 11:13 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: It's like people who write these handwringing lifestyle pieces notice some habit among their immediate friends, and question that habit, and determine it can't be changed, but it never occurs to them to go talk to people who decided to stop doing that thing or who never did it in the first place.

My friend decided to stop drinking, and all her friends were aghast, so she started hanging out with moms who don't need wine to get through the day. Then she started to be a mom who didn't need wine to get through the day herself. Simple!; 9/11/19, 11:18 PM
stlcdr said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/12/19, 5:45 AM
stlcdr said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/12/19, 5:46 AM
MadisonMan said...: People have overshared for a long time with respect to kids. I've often felt very sorry for Annie Lamott's kid.; 9/12/19, 6:02 AM
Birches said...: What pants said, both times.; 9/12/19, 8:53 AM
Le Stain du Poop said...: You see for those of us who have never been and will never be on any form of "social media," this is not a problem.; 9/12/19, 9:32 AM
Maillard Reactionary said...: Leave it to The New Yorker to miss the obvious, that children should be outside playing, or reading, or doing something, and not exposed to computers in any form. The whole nonproblem then goes away.

Not that I'm endorsing a heavy diet of social media for adults, either.

Sometimes I wonder what will happen when people who've spent their whole adult lives involved in online relationships, when something really awful happens, as it does to everyone, sooner or later. Will their Facebag friends be there then, when a spouse dies, or a fatal illness is discovered? When there isn't an opportunity for a cute photograph or a jokey text message?; 9/12/19, 10:23 AM