I'm going to sound ancient here in a moment, but do you remember the good ol' days when our baby pictures were only shown off during the following occasions?
1. During family gatherings - Our parents would attempt to embarrass us with our childhood photo albums. Fortunately, most of the family had already seen these pictures, so our faces became increasingly desensitized to blushing with each and every such occasion.
2. High school gradation party - Not only were family members around to peruse the childhood pics, but add friends and even some teachers to that ever-growing list! Once again, the level of embarrassment typically didn't get out-of-hand since at such parties, the students are usually so busy welcoming and talking to people, they rarely have time to look through their photo albums with friends, family, or teachers. If a high school teacher, whom you had a crush on, was looking through such an album as you passed by, though, then that could be another story altogether. The student's cheeks may then put Rudolph's nose to shame.
3. Folks-meeting-the-girlfriend/boyfriend - It seems to be every mother's dream to one day show her son's/daughter's girlfriend/boyfriend their childhood photo album(s). Yes, this can be cause for embarrassment, especially if the feelings are strong. However, outside of some post-album teasing, the redness in the cheeks usually subsides within an hour or two.
Since I've yet to get married, these are really the only three such occasions when my photo albums have been shared with people, and I'm just fine with that. Anymore, though, I can't tell you how many such pictures I see on my Facebook newsfeed. I honestly can't remember the last day when I didn't see someone's baby or little kid shown to the Facebook world. These kids have absolutely no idea what their parents are doing. I can just imagine their reactions in 10-20 years when they become members of Facebook, start dating, going to college, etc. He or she will receive a comment on a picture their mother shared to her Facebook friends, which will say something along the lines of this: "Wow! Look at you! I can remember when I first saw you as a baby! I can't believe how big you've gotten!"
The child will then see the comment and engage in the following conversation with his/her mother:
Child: "Hey, mom? Who was that person commenting on my picture?"
Mother: "Oh, just a Facebook friend of mine, sweetie. We've never actually met. He's kind of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend, really."
Child: "Wait - so you've never met him?"
Mother: "No, not that I know of - why?"
Child: "Well, then, how does he know what I looked like as a baby?"
Mother: "Because of all the pictures I posted of you on Facebook, of course."
Child: "So, there are hundreds of people who have seen my baby pictures where I'm completely naked and crying and stuff?"
Mother: "Yes, I suppose so. Actually, that number may be in the thousands, since I know many people re-shared the pictures I shared."
Child: "What? ...and you don't know a lot of these people?"
Mother: "I know maybe half of them, I'd say."
Child: "Oh my God, mom!"
Mother: "Is something wrong, my dear?"
Child: "Ugh!"
Yeah, remember those times when people were obsessed with camcorders? They'd tape their children doing everything except for sleeping and then attempt to show people these awful videos, which no one wanted to watch - especially their kids? This new Facebook-sharing-baby-photos obsession kind of reminds me of that. In fact, on some levels, it's gotten worse, because I've even heard of spats deriving from such posts.
New mother: "Whoa! I just posted three photos of my baby and she didn't like a single one of them! How dare her! I guess she isn't my bestie anymore!"
Yeah, that or she wasn't at the computer, didn't check her newsfeed, or something a bit more likely than just ignoring the photos completely.
This is one reason I don't particularly like Facebook sometimes. Why not spend more time showing our significant others and children we love them as opposed to trying to show others that we do?
1. During family gatherings - Our parents would attempt to embarrass us with our childhood photo albums. Fortunately, most of the family had already seen these pictures, so our faces became increasingly desensitized to blushing with each and every such occasion.
2. High school gradation party - Not only were family members around to peruse the childhood pics, but add friends and even some teachers to that ever-growing list! Once again, the level of embarrassment typically didn't get out-of-hand since at such parties, the students are usually so busy welcoming and talking to people, they rarely have time to look through their photo albums with friends, family, or teachers. If a high school teacher, whom you had a crush on, was looking through such an album as you passed by, though, then that could be another story altogether. The student's cheeks may then put Rudolph's nose to shame.
3. Folks-meeting-the-girlfriend/boyfriend - It seems to be every mother's dream to one day show her son's/daughter's girlfriend/boyfriend their childhood photo album(s). Yes, this can be cause for embarrassment, especially if the feelings are strong. However, outside of some post-album teasing, the redness in the cheeks usually subsides within an hour or two.
Since I've yet to get married, these are really the only three such occasions when my photo albums have been shared with people, and I'm just fine with that. Anymore, though, I can't tell you how many such pictures I see on my Facebook newsfeed. I honestly can't remember the last day when I didn't see someone's baby or little kid shown to the Facebook world. These kids have absolutely no idea what their parents are doing. I can just imagine their reactions in 10-20 years when they become members of Facebook, start dating, going to college, etc. He or she will receive a comment on a picture their mother shared to her Facebook friends, which will say something along the lines of this: "Wow! Look at you! I can remember when I first saw you as a baby! I can't believe how big you've gotten!"
The child will then see the comment and engage in the following conversation with his/her mother:
Child: "Hey, mom? Who was that person commenting on my picture?"
Mother: "Oh, just a Facebook friend of mine, sweetie. We've never actually met. He's kind of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend, really."
Child: "Wait - so you've never met him?"
Mother: "No, not that I know of - why?"
Child: "Well, then, how does he know what I looked like as a baby?"
Mother: "Because of all the pictures I posted of you on Facebook, of course."
Child: "So, there are hundreds of people who have seen my baby pictures where I'm completely naked and crying and stuff?"
Mother: "Yes, I suppose so. Actually, that number may be in the thousands, since I know many people re-shared the pictures I shared."
Child: "What? ...and you don't know a lot of these people?"
Mother: "I know maybe half of them, I'd say."
Child: "Oh my God, mom!"
Mother: "Is something wrong, my dear?"
Child: "Ugh!"
Yeah, remember those times when people were obsessed with camcorders? They'd tape their children doing everything except for sleeping and then attempt to show people these awful videos, which no one wanted to watch - especially their kids? This new Facebook-sharing-baby-photos obsession kind of reminds me of that. In fact, on some levels, it's gotten worse, because I've even heard of spats deriving from such posts.
New mother: "Whoa! I just posted three photos of my baby and she didn't like a single one of them! How dare her! I guess she isn't my bestie anymore!"
Yeah, that or she wasn't at the computer, didn't check her newsfeed, or something a bit more likely than just ignoring the photos completely.
This is one reason I don't particularly like Facebook sometimes. Why not spend more time showing our significant others and children we love them as opposed to trying to show others that we do?
Comments
Post a Comment