To blur or not to blur? Should we be pixelating our children’s pictures on social media?
Maria Fowler is part of a growing trend for celebrities to pixelate their children’s faces on social media [Photo: Instagram/mariafowler_]
She welcomed her baby daughter four weeks ago and like many new mums, Maria Fowler hasn’t been able to resist sharing pictures of her shiny newborn to social media. But unlike some other celebrities, the former TOWIE star has chosen to keep her baby’s face private online.
The 30-year-old took to Instagram to share an image of her daughter, Evie getting her hands and feet printed in clay, but opted to blur out the tot’s face. And it’s a decision that’s winning praise from some other parents.
“Great decision on not showing your bubba face @mariafowler_ ! So many nasty people out there and why should you share your precious bundle? But I’m sure she’s gorgeous!” one woman commented.
“You are doing the right thing keeping Evie private. Real fans/followers will respect this. Keep making memories but sharing what you can. We appreciate it. Enjoy every second of motherhood Maria,” added another.
“I like that you haven’t plastered your daughter’s face over social media. She deserves some privacy,” another wrote.
Maria has chosen to hide her baby’s face from social media [Photos: Instagram/mariafowler_]
The shot isn’t the first image the former reality TV star has shared where her daughter’s face is hidden. Earlier this week she posted a picture of her cuddling her daughter and blurred one side of her face. And in other images, Evie’s face has been covered with a bottle, an emoji or pixelated to make sure that she can’t be seen.
Shortly after giving birth to Evie, who she shares with boyfriend Kelvin Bately, Maria took to social media to explain her decision to keep images of her daughter’s face hidden, after some fans questioned whether it had something to do with a magazine deal.
“Not publishing our baby’s face online has nothing to do with a ‘mag deal’,” she wrote in a series of tweets which she later also shared to Instagram. “She is the most precious thing in our life and we are unsure as to whether we want to expose her images to the nutters & scumbags that seem to crawl out the woodwork on comments sections.”
“She is innocent, tiny and vulnerable and we want to enjoy her to ourselves before we decide weather to share our precious photos online.”
“But I can tell you all she is the most beautiful, perfect little girl in the whole world and her safety and happiness is our priority.”
Maria isn’t the only celebrity to choose to hide images of their children’s faces on social media. Holly Willoughby and best friend Fern Cotton also keep their little ones out of the social media spotlight and purely share images where their faces can’t be seen. And Maria recently praised fellow reality TV star Luisa Zizzman, who recently chosen to take the same approach with her daughters, Indigo and Dixie.
Responding to a tweet about Luisa deleting all images of her children from her social media pages, Maria wrote: “Good move @TheLuluLife keep your precious girls safe from scum online xxxx”
Halle Berry has also chosen to keep her children’s faces from social media [Photo: Instagram/halleberry]
Halle Berry is another celebrity who is fiercely protective of her children’s online privacy. Earlier this month the actress shared a rare photo to Instagram of daughter, Nahla, 8 and son, Maceo, 3, with their faces cut from the shot.
But when one follower questioned why she had chosen to hide her children’s faces, the actress was forced to issue a response.
“I’ve noticed you have said this several times now so let me be clear — I’m not at all ashamed of children,” she wrote. “I try to find creative ways to incorporate them into my feed because they are the biggest part of my life, but I also work very hard to keep their identities as private as I can considering they are only children.”
Her reply certainly seemed to strike a chord with other parents who agreed with her decision to keep her children’s faces from social media.
“You tell ’em Halle. Too many weirdos in this world to not protect their identities,” wrote one follower.
“I’m not even a celebrity and I don’t show my children’s faces on my biz social media either. I’m not comfortable with even a small number of unknown people seeing their innocent little eyes,” added another.
It seems celebrities aren’t the only ones choosing to blur their children’s faces from social media. Though social feeds continue to be flooded with images of parenting milestones, there does seem to be an increase in shots that are pixelated, shot from behind or contain emojis protecting actual faces.
The reasons are widely discussed – safety, trolls, social judgment and on. And then there’s the issue of consent. Your baby or child isn’t actually able to give their permission to post images of them online. And though you think the image of your toddler running round the garden naked is cute, what will he think when he’s reaches the awkward teenage stage?
But though the reasons for protecting children’s privacy online are entirely reasonable some have questioned whether hiding their faces goes far enough and whether it would be better to keep children off social media entirely?
The question of whether to blur or not to blur could be debated all day, but it comes down to the fact that it’s each parent’s individual choice and as such their decision should be respected.
Besides pixelated or not, baby pictures are always a cute-fest, whether you see their actual face or just their itsy bitsy feet.
Would you blur your child’s face on social media? Let us know @YahooStyleUK
Should Parents Share Naked Pictures Of Their Children On Social Media?
