Proponents frame the practice as a natural expression of parental pride in their children and argue that critics take sharenting-related posts out of context.
Academic research has been conducted over the potential social motivations for sharenting and legal frameworks to balance child privacy with this parental practice.
Priya Kumar suggests that recording life moments of children rearing is not a new practice: people have been using diaries, scrapbooks and baby log books as the media of documentation for centuries.
[2] Scholars assert that sharenting has become popular as a result of social media, which has made many people more comfortable with sharing their lives and those of their children online.
[3] The trend of oversharing on social media has raised public attention in the 2010s and become the focus of a number of editorials and academic research projects.
[10] In the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy, a Research Now report revealed that almost three-quarters of surveyed parents said that they were "willing to share images of their infants".
[11] Some claim that sharenting presents a violation of child privacy, and this backlash includes anti-sharenting sites and apps that block baby pictures.
[13] Some parents felt that these criticisms of sharenting often took posts out of context and neglected some positive aspects of the practice, including advancing a stronger sense of online community.
Conducting 17 interviews with mothers in the United Kingdom, a London School of Economics study found that parent bloggers often re-explained their sharing practices in terms of expressing their own personal identity, representing their own child as part of themselves.
With the convenience of online platforms, parent bloggers can easily connect with other people in similar situations[20] as well as those who are willing to contribute meaningful advice.
[16] As the research conducted by London School of Economics (LSE) reveals, online blogging enabled Jane, whose daughter was diagnosed with autism, to connect with parents under similar circumstances.
As the images and words about children's lives initiate conversations, parents use sharenting to stay connected with distant friends and relatives.
In particular, mothers, as a research study reveals, are willing to engage in sharenting since they believe that the positive contents can help avoid digital conflicts and maintain close relations with those in their social circles.
[21] Researchers also found that female participants in this study carefully chose photos and phrases to express love and present laudable behaviors of children in their updates,[21] which indicates their intention to convey positive messages.
These messages also promote a close social network for a child as the parents invites supportive family members and friends into daily life.
[4] Given the potential misuse of digital data, people are critical about sharenting, and the majority of parents are cautious about the wrongdoing with online posts.
[22] The disclosure of minors' personal information, such as geographic location, name, date of birth, pictures, and the schools they attend, might expose them to illegal practices by recipients with malicious intentions.
[19] Sharented information is often abused for "identity theft", when imposters manage to track, stalk, commit fraud against children, or even blackmail the family.
[19] Practices of such kinds by third parties trigger a public debate on whether accessing and selling users' data infringes their rights – especially for minors who have little autonomy over their private information.
[26] Due to the prevalence of sharenting, children develop a digital footprint from a young age, composed of social media content that may damage their confidence later in life.
[27] Moreover, college admission officers and potential employers may happen to access the inappropriate materials, which could shape their impression on a young candidate and negatively affect academic or career opportunities.
[36] YouTube went under fire in 2019 after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) found the media platform was violating COPPA by sharing children's information without parental consent.