A family I know has three young children. The kids are adorable, and talented to boot, but their parents have a firm rule: no social media. They refuse to post photos of their children on Facebook or Instagram, and ask other relatives and friends to do the same. They want to protect their children’s privacy as much as possible.
I can respect that. I see so many personal photos of children—even baby announcements and sonograms—on Instagram and Facebook that I sometimes wonder how the child will feel about it when he or she is older. Obviously that is up to the parent. That said, I would always ask for permission from the parents before posting a photo of your precious godchild or nephew. If they ask you not to, respect that request.
It’s not just children that people want to protect online. A woman I know got married a few years back and was upset when guests immediately started posting photos from the event on social media. She said she would have preferred to be in control of the images, and would have rather waited until the professional wedding photos were done. Then again, one of the last weddings I attended had a custom hashtag encouraging guests to tweet and Instagram. Everyone is different, so simply ask before you click “post.”
Having respect for others means respecting their privacy. If they don’t want to be featured on social media, who are you to change that?