ABSTRACT
Children’s and young people’s lives changed dramatically in the late twentieth century. This chapter provides a different slant to much public commentary on children’s digital lives, explores privacy and surveillance in contemporary childhoods. It examines practices in social media of children, young people, adults, and the social media companies themselves. Children’s and young people’s lives were once experienced and represented almost exclusively in private domains. If parents recorded images and news of childhood events at all it was in photo albums and family letters, and most childhood experience was ephemeral—not recorded for posterity at all. Scholars identify sharenting as a practice that can deepen enjoyment of experience but also a deliberate parental practice of self-representation. There are many potential benefits to some forms of sharenting. It can allow parents to connect with friends and family, receive support and advice for challenges experienced, experience validation in their parenting role, and create family memories.
