digital parenting

What a photo gone viral tells us about digital parenting

Recently I saw a photo from a content filtering company NetSanity on Twitter, had a little chuckle to myself, thought it relevant to my audience and shared it on my Facebook page.

Here is the photo….kind of cute hey?

digital parenting

At the time of writing this the photo was shared 84000 times, commented on over 7000  times and viewed by over 6 million people.

As I watched with interest this photo that has been seen by millions more than anything else I have ever posted, I began to wonder.  Why did it resonate so much with people? What can I use from this to better understand my audience?

It reinforced to me these things…..

Connection

Adults are using social media to connect with kids. There was some great banter between parents and their offspring and most of the comments were parents having a light hearted dig at their kids and their obsession with technology and their lack of ‘housework’ skills.

Globalisation

It highlighted again the speed at which something can be seen online and the global nature of this digital world. Seeing so many comments from various languages reminds us how very small the world has actually become.

Online behaviour

It tells us that the personalities and behaviours of the people of the internet can be ‘different’ to say the least. Some don’t have a lot in the way of a sense of humour, some have an inability to see things for what they are and some are truly scared that because a 2 year old can work a smartphone we are suggesting they start working with bleach.

Parenting

It tells us that there are many ways to parent a child and raise a family. Some believing strongly that participating in some household chores should be mandatory and an expectation of living in a household. Others however believe strongly that kids should be kids and household chores should not be enforced upon their kids when they should be playing instead. (For the record I believe kids can still be kids and still contribute to the family home with chores. In fact, I think it is imperative but that’s a whole other post).

The generation gap

It reminds us again of the different generations and how the comparisons of ‘in my day’ will continue. Most parents have a tendency to reminisce on the ‘it never hurt me’ scenarios, and long for a return to simpler days.

For the most part however,  it reminds us that the challenges of parenting in a digital world are universal and complicated…..but sometimes the best way to tackle things is with a healthy dose of humour.

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This Post Has 4 Comments

  1. I am lucky because my kids all know how to use all these modern devices, and often they need to practise using these first before they get to use their smart device.

    1. Martine Oglethorpe

      Yep, gotta get in early!

  2. Vanessa Rowse

    This is so interesting! Love your reflections and wisdom as always too. x

    1. Martine Oglethorpe

      Thanks V and thanks for sharing 🙂

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