Photo: Tara Galuska

“Yes”
Caron Court, mom of one
I guess you could say my six-year-old, Owen, is a rising social media star?at least in my eyes. I?ve been posting his funny expressions on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #owenisms since he was a toddler, and I?ve shared more than 4,000 photos of us on Instagram.
It might look like I?m showing off, but I have deeper reasons for putting my kid on the Internet. After Owen was born in 2009, I almost died due to complications. This left me very aware of my own mortality. I worried I?d die before Owen would be able to remember me. On top of that, Owen?s dad and I broke up 18 months later, which only heightened my fear that there wouldn?t be anyone to share photos or stories of me with Owen if I died. Around the same time my relationship ended, I got my first smartphone. Owen and I soon became selfie experts?there was no one else to take photos of us, and I didn?t want to miss out on documenting those special moments. I started adding the photos to Instagram so I could crop and filter them. As for the #owenisms, they give people a laugh, and they create a digital journal, both for him and for me.
I know there are risks to sharing my kid?s life on social media. But I think the benefits outweigh them. And I take steps to protect him online. I avoid identifying the location of his school and activities; I don?t post comments or photos he would find embarrassing, either now or in the future (in fact, he now revie...