Sharenting Practices, Consequences and Protective Measures

This book provides an interdisciplinary analysis of the sharenting phenomena, while discussing the various stakeholders involved, e.g., the portrayed children and adolescents, (grand)parents and other family members. Sharenting, i.e. parents’ disclosure of personal information related to their children on social media, is increasingly the subject of public debate. Moreover, some parents participate in influencer sharenting, where they generate revenue by featuring their children in professionalised and commercialised social media content, often in collaboration with brands. However, while sharing personal information of children has become common practice, concerns arise regarding its risks. Consequently, sharenting has been studied in several disciplines, including communication studies, psychology, marketing, criminology, law, sociology, and health sciences. This interdisciplinary approach, adopted by this book, generates several suggestions for future research, alongside practical implications for parents and policy makers. Michel Walrave is Full Professor at the Department of Communication Studies of the University of Antwerp, Belgium, and head of the research group MIOS. His research is centred on online self-disclosure and privacy. One of the topics of his research examines (grand)sharenting motives and consequences, as well as how children and adolescents are impacted by and respond to these sharing practices. Liselot Hudders is Associate Professor in marketing communication and ethics at Ghent University, department of Communication Sciences and director of the Center for Persuasive Communication, Belgium. Her research focuses on the role of digital media in the formation of consumer socialisation processes, especially among young consumers. Ini Vanwesenbeeck is Assistant Professor in the Research Group Centre for Social Influence, Department of Communication and Cognition, Tilburg University, the Netherlands. Her research is dedicated to the desired and adverse effects of social media on children and young adults. Emma Beuckels is working on a FWO (research foundation Flanders) postdoctoral fellowship at the department of Communication Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium. Her research centers on the interactions of children and parents with digital media, with a specific emphasis on influencer content and its impact on their daily decision-making processes.