My personal guidelines for sharing my kids online
Big-picture thoughts, practical concerns, and the rules I follow to keep things safe + sustainable
I received this note last August and immediately knew it was a topic I wanted to discuss here, together, instead of one-to-one. Thank you, Katie, for the push to do so! (And for your patience!) What follows is what I would have said if I took many hours to respond to your email :)
Because I think this is such an important topic and because my answer, though lengthy, is just one perspective, I also asked five friends for their take on Katie’s question. Their responses will make up next week’s newsletter.
Hi Emily!
I was curious (and I mean this in the most respectful, kind way possible!) if you ever have trouble navigating the dichotomy of protecting your kids and family from the encroachment of technology while also sharing parts of your life on the internet.
Thank you!!
Katie
Dear Katie,
When I have been asked, over my long career as a personal blogger, if I’d ever want to make it my full-time job, my answer has always been an emphatic no.
In contrast to the more than 50% of Gen-Z folk who aspire to the role of influencer, I have never once desired that job for myself — despite my persistent appearance on the internet. This is undoubtedly because I am risk-averse; it can certainly be ascribed to my love for clear on-and-off-the-clock hours and my preference for carrying out direction rather than setting it. But it is foremost because I knew early on that I never wanted my life to become the product that my livelihood relied on. I felt that twice as strongly once my life expanded to include children. If I ever wanted to cut ties with an internet presence, I wanted to be free to do so with no more than a moment’s notice.
So it would be fair to say that, from the start, my online presence was built on a healthy amount of circumspection and ambivalence. My original goal was to get in and get out: start the blog, build it up as a portfolio, secure the job, and move on.
Back in 2009, I did secure the job… but I never quite moved on.