Even before I became pregnant, I had been thinking about this new generation that will be growing up with their lives broadcast to the world via social networking, youtube and blogs. On one hand, it’s a positive thing to be able to use the internet to keep family and friends up to date about how our families are doing and what the little ones are up to. On the other hand though, I wonder what kind of a psychological impact all this publicity will have on these children who grow up with their photos and videos posted for the world to see (and in some cases, comment on).
I wonder if, in our enthusiasm to show off how cute or talented our kids are, we inadvertently communicate to them that their value comes from how much viewership they generate or how many comments they can elicit. I wonder, too, if growing up under the eye of the world will contribute to bigger egos or greater insecurities for these children. I mean, the generation before us might be lucky to have a few precious, faded, black and white photos of themselves before their adulthood. And I personally have one or two photo albums plus a couple VHS casette tapes of my growing up years. But for these kids growing up now, their whole lives will be digitally documented and widely accessible.
I obviously don’t have answers to these questions but I guess thinking them through is part of how I am preparing for parenthood. I don’t want to cut myself or my family off from those who care for us, but I also want to be wise with what I decide to make public.
Any thoughts?
On a pregnancy note: Thursday marked 19 weeks. And I think I have started to feel the baby move. I can’t tell for sure yet, but I’m definitely feeling some faint flutters that are an entirely new sensation to me. I also had a dream this past week in which I was wrapping Vietnamese subs for take-out and the counter at the restaurant was just like a baby change station. I was trying to wrap the subs so they wouldn’t leak. It was a very serious dream but as I think about it now, I can’t help but laugh. Ha.
photo credit: rifqi dahlgren via photo pin cc