Why I will be keeping my daughter's identity offline

Isn't it weird how in the 21st century and with the role of social media, it's expected for us all to post everything and anything on our profiles? Including those life-altering events, like having a baby. And most of the time we have a huge collection of old acquaintances, ex-colleagues and school BFFs on our friend/follower list who would see every said update.

In recent years I have really become a hater of Facebook and all things checking into places, updating every aspect of life through status updates and almost believing something didn't happen unless there are 20+ images uploaded.

I'm not a huge fan of my private Instagram either. I often post on my blog Instagram, and only what I would be happy for my 11k followers to know, and whoever else stumbled on my profile.

A baby is a different kettle of fish.

Maybe it was my social media training back in uni that taught me nothing can be taken offline, but I really didn't want the identity of my bubba sprawled online for everyone to find. A first smile, giggle, head raise, whatever it might be, was private and something I wanted to share with family and friends, and not everyone in between.

Alongside those momentous milestones are the everyday snaps, funny moments, maybe rather humiliating aspects of baby life and general childhood. And whilst it is seen as funny, adorable and often cute, these aren't things that would have been shared with every Tom, Dick and Harry back in my childhood. So why should they be shared with such today?

And let's be honest, that's what sharing on social media is.

What I fear, is how much some do share of their little ones, and who can access that information. Through a series of posts over a few months, it's easy to piece together pretty personal, identifying information. Including their nursery school name, where you often visit, who looks after them. Whilst it seems dark to think about, it's something we all have to bear in mind, especially if the wrong person had that information.

The thing is, it's oh so easy to share on social media, especially for the benefit of the family. But truthfully, there are other ways to easily share memories and special moments without having to share them on the big wide web.

And our final consideration was our daughter herself. We as conscious beings decide what we share on social media. I carefully choose my online narrative because I can. My daughter isn't in a position to do that just yet. So, is it really fair I plaster her life for all to see when she doesn't have the ability to say no?

I haven't put some of my baby photos online because they're embarrassing, My daughter has the right to make that decision for herself when she can.

Bearing it all in mind, our daughter's identity will be strictly offline. Our announcement photo was a carefully curated image of a hand. And anything I further share carefully conceals her face. Daily photos are still shared with parents and family, but carefully and considerately.

And it's really rather fun having to be creative navigating social media whilst still sharing snippets of our life as a family.

Have you kept your child's identity offline? Will you do the same?