“It’s this version of me that my mom’s publicized and made very permanent.”
Lou grew up as a social media baby. Their mom had a public blog where she shared details about her life as a mother. But she also shared details about her kids, including Lou. Now, Lou remembers the blog as a fixture of their childhood, but not in a good way. Throughout their teen years and into adulthood, strange adults would reach out to Lou online, asking personal and often inappropriate questions. Classmates would use content from the blog to embarrass them.
Lou is part of a generation of social media babies now grappling as young adults with a digital version of themselves created by their parents and shared with the world. Today on The Sunday Story, a look at family blogging, a trend that’s become so popular there’s now a name for it: “sharenting.” But a growing number of young people are starting to object, saying such blogs take a toll on their mental health and violate their privacy.
