Tonight my husband went on to facebook to update his status regarding our prenatal appointment this week. He realized his updates went to friends of friends and was peeved about this, he thought it was for friends only. He began poking around and noticed his images were public. This made him irate that their default was not some level of privacy. He is becoming very protective as a father and was upset that the ultrasound from week 8 was a public image on facebook.
You need to understand that my husband is one of the most transparent people I have ever met with his online dealings. When we first started dating I found out way too much about him and his internet life with one night of intense searching. Even now on twitter he tells people anything and everything. His followers may think it is part of his charm, I think it can be TMI a good deal of time but he does not give it a second thought.
I felt reassured to hear him be upset about any information about our child being out in the cyberworld unless he orchestrates it. I asked him when our baby is born if he will only go by an initial and only post photos I take of hands, feet, or action shots where the face is a blur. He is considering it.
I think making these decisions about how exposed a child will be are important. I know with my husband I sometimes catch myself censoring around him to make sure my words don’t end up in his twitter stream. A young child does not have that option. I also wonder what the future will hold and wonder if their classmates will be able to pull pictures of them playing in dirt when they are two. How will these images and words about them come back to haunt them as they grow up? Another thought is wondering if this exposure will be ethical. When children work in Hollywood there are strict laws regulating how often they are working, as blog subject matter they are never off the clock. It is just a world of hypotheticals we are exploring in my home right now.
It is a conversation my husband and I are glad to be engaged in. What about you? What compromises did you and your significant others make in this conversation?