Kids in photos

[skywaywaver]

I had no idea where to post this, until I found this forum and hopefully someone will answer me here.

I mean this in the least judgmental way possible: Why do people not want pictures of their kids in the trip reports?
Please explain this to me, as I'm wondering if I'm missing something I should be worrying about.

TIA and I really don't mean any disrespect to either side: those who put in their kids' pics and those who don't. Just curious (and nosy I guess LOL)!

 

[AndrewWG]

My general rule is to not include my DD in online photos. There are way too many wierdos out there in this world. I don't trust that a pic of my DD would not spur someone to come and find our house or whatever. It wouldn't be all that hard to track me down if someone really really wanted to. Would anyone do this? I HIGHLY doubt it. Do I want something like that to happen because I posted a pic of her on the Dis or anywhere else for that matter? Of course not. So I made the decision to say "why risk anything" and leave her out of any pics I post. There are pics of her out there, but I don't post them anymore. This is just my personal decision that I know others don't agree with.

Andy

 

[mabas9395]

There are risks in everyday life and for whatever reason, different people learn to accept different risk for different reasons.

When we go out in public (the store, park, whatever) I watch my kids like a hawk and don't let them out of my line of sight. Other parents say "go where ever you want and meet me back here in 15 minutes". That totally freaks me out. To each his own.

As far as pictures on the web goes, you can probably tell by my signature what my feelings are.

 

[skywaywaver]

Thank you both for your replies. I appreciate you explaining this to me.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I post shots of mine all the time. I'm not nearly as worried about people seeing them online as I am about those trolling through the neighborhoods.

Another question, now that more and more people are using metadata in their photos is what information you put about the kids. When shooting other people's kids, I usually ask. I've gotten everything from "please don't post pics of my kids" to "include their first names only" to "it's OK to use their full names."

 

[MarkBarbieri]

We had a related discussion last year when I built a neighborhood website. The site required a user id and a password. It included the neighborhood directory, which had names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses. We had several people that asked not to be listed.

I complied, but I was tempted to point out that I could easily look up their address and see who owned the house. With the name and address, I could quickly google their phone number. It was almost trivial to go from their to almost anything else you really want to know about someone.

I think that people over-estimate the dangers of online information about them and underestimate the physical dangers around them. Not to point fingers, but one mother (kids are 6 and 8) who didn't want photos of her kids posted regularly talks on her cell phone while driving them around, let's them ride their bikes without helmets on the street, and not infrequently lets them roam the neighborhood for hours without checking up on where they are, who they are with, or what they are doing. To me, all of those are orders of magnitude more risky than posting pictures of your kid's latest soccer game.

 

[Gdad]

I really have no problem posting pictures of my kids and do so often.

 

[matthew_hull]

I think that people over-estimate the dangers of online information about them and underestimate the physical dangers around them. Not to point fingers, but one mother (kids are 6 and 8) who didn't want photos of her kids posted regularly talks on her cell phone while driving them around, let's them ride their bikes without helmets on the street, and not infrequently lets them roam the neighborhood for hours without checking up on where they are, who they are with, or what they are doing. To me, all of those are orders of magnitude more risky than posting pictures of your kid's latest soccer game.

I completely agree with you, but people fear what they don't understand. People understand bicycles; they do not understand this computer-internet thingy. IMHO it is that simple.

-- Matthew

 

[jfulcer]

I completely agree with you, but people fear what they don't understand. People understand bicycles; they do not understand this computer-internet thingy. IMHO it is that simple.

-- Matthew

The interweb? It's just a bunch of tubes. What's to understand?

 

[Anewman]

I used to have a picture of my son in my signature, one time during an "argument" someone called him ugly...

Now I have me and the wife in my sig, I already know I am ugly so there is nothing to get upset about.