The dangers of posting your young children on social media

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - We’ve seen the pictures all over our social media feeds.

From first-day school photos to pregnancy announcements to first birthdays, our youngest generation has quite the digital footprint.

However, experts warn that this never-ending stream of seemingly innocent photos could put your child or grandchild at risk.

“Parents are super excited, and they want to just scream it out to the world,” said social media safety expert Marcy Thornhill.

In the age of social media, parents are eager to share photos of their babies with their friends, family, and followers, but how much information are they sharing?

Your baby’s ultrasound picture. It’s not a baby yet, but your name and a date are on it. You started to share information before the child even left the womb.”

Studies have found that over 90% of children in the U.S. have an online presence before they turn two years old.

Predators are looking to capitalize on this.

“The way that you share the information needs to be more thoughtful and more intentional.”

Thornhill is a social media safety expert and has spent the last two decades finding ways to help parents protect their kids.

“We found that predators sometimes will take your information, go across country, or to a whole different place and have surgery out of your child’s name, create a false I.D. and get speeding tickets, open up credit cards.”

But how do they get so much information from simple, innocent photos?

One example is the first day of school picture, in which many students hold up a sign celebrating the new school year.

“They have these cute little plaques now teachers name and the grade,” said Thornhill. “That’s a lot of information. You’ve told them that grade the teacher’s name—the school. I have a picture. I can go right into the school, and I know exactly who your child is.”

Identity fraud is one concern; child pornography is another.

“It does put your child at risk. Because while you’re excited, predators are equally as excited to get information.”

The disturbing reality is that predators are getting more creative as technology advances.

“You don’t want to share pictures of your children in the tub or in Pampers. They’re actually very cute,” said Thornhill. “But predators use those photos. They photoshop.”

One example is a man arrested in Florida who is accused of using A.I. to create child pornography, allegedly taking photos of a young girl, then using A.I. to remove her clothes and put her in sexual situations.

“In this world of A.I. now, it’s really scary because you never know what they can do with your child’s face and how they can take that image and use it for something illegal or really just really scary.”

Thornhill recommends always keeping your social media private and double check who’s following you.

“A lot of times, predators use the parents as a gateway to reach in the child,” she said. “So you want to one day take inventory. Who are your friends? Look at the list.”

Lastly, Thornhill says if you want to play it completely safe, keep your child’s identity off social media entirely.

If close family and friends want to see pictures of your children, you can share them privately.