Sharenting, Peer Influence, and Privacy Concerns: A Study on the Instagram-Sharing Behaviors of Parents in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Parental sharing of child-related content on social network sites, termed “sharenting,” is often the target of criticism. Yet, through sharenting, parents can find support systems, a way to stay in touch with relevant others, and even an opportunity for additional income. This study contributes to knowledge on antecedents of sharenting. It explores the impact of parents’ privacy concerns on the sharing of child-related content, as well as on their general Instagram sharing. In this study, we differentiate between general and situational privacy. Moreover, we investigate whether parents’ privacy self-efficacy and the support of their peers influence parental sharing practices. Drawing on a rich body of literature on privacy and information sharing, we discuss the results of an online survey distributed among 320 Instagram users who are parents of children younger than 13 and reside in the United Kingdom. We find that parents’ privacy concerns are uncorrelated to sharenting and only situational concerns marginally correlate to parents’ general sharing. Parents’ reported privacy self-efficacy also did not play a role in parents’ sharing of either personal or children-related content. On the contrary, both Instagram sharing and having a network supportive of parental sharenting positively predict sharenting. Our results indicate that (a) neither situational nor general privacy concerns influence parents’ sharenting behavior, and (b) a parent’s supportive network and frequent sharing habits make frequent sharenting more likely.

Supplemental Material for Facebook sharenting in mothers of young children: The risks are worth it but only for some.

“…A post hoc power analysis was conducted using GPower (Erdfelder et al, 1996). The effect size used for this assessment was 0.25 based on previous research on sharenting in the U.K. (Ranzini et al, 2020). The analysis revealed that statistical power for this study was between 0.92 and 0.94 depending on the analysis run, thus there was more than adequate power to observe a small to moderate effect size.…”

“…Understanding the multidimensional nature of sharenting decisions is important as it could help the development of more suitable programs to encourage safer sharenting behaviors. Recent research exploring sharenting behavior of U.K. parents on Instagram reported that peer influence can be a strong predictor of sharenting (Ranzini et al, 2020). Facebook, however, is still the most widely used social media platform (YouGov, 2020).…”

The Privacy Paradox by Proxy: Considering Predictors of Sharenting

“…Specifically, sharenting can interfere with children's right to a private identity, autonomy, impression management and safety (see also Donovan, 2020). Both parents and third parties can also potentially use data about children in ways that can be revealing, embarrassing or even dangerous (Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989;Holiday et al, 2022;Ranzini et al, 2020). This includes:…”

Sharenting dan Privasi Anak: Studi Netnografi pada Unggahan Instagram dengan Tagar #Anakku

“…Ketiadaan kebijakan dan peraturan hukum yang jelas, diiringi dengan rendahnya tingkat literasi media, membuat orang tua merasa bahwa membagikan foto dan video anaknya ke media sosial adalah hal yang wajar, terlebih merasa bahwa itu hak mereka sebagai orang tua (Kumar & Schoenebeck, 2015;Steinberg, 2017). Ranzini et al (2020) membedakan dua jenis privasi yang terkait dengan sharenting. Pertama, privasi umum, yaitu privasi yang berkaitan dengan konteks sosial dan institusional.…”