I’ve seen a few articles shared on Facebook bashing on mom bloggers, that their source of income is from blogging and working from home, and especially that they share photos of their children on the internet.
As someone who has always loved writing and blogging, and who now falls under the “mommy blogger” category, this is something that bugs me. I think there’s nothing wrong with someone’s chosen career, or rather how they choose to make money, so long as it’s legal. So why someone would decide to lump all the mom bloggers together and shame them, as a group, for blogging about their families, is beyond me.
But what really bothers me is that mom bloggers are being shamed for posting pictures of their children on the internet.
Now, I understand the argument. I understand where it’s coming from. It basically boils down to consent. Your child can’t consent to a photo of them being posted on the internet, so how is it okay?How will your child feel when they get older and see that you posted hundreds of photos of them as they grew, and that people you don’t know got to see it.
Think about this, though. You’re out with your friends, and one of them takes a photo of you and then later posts it on social media. Your friend means no harm, they thought it was a good picture and you looked cute eating that sandwich, so they posted it. And you’re not mad. You didn’t give your consent. Because really, it’s intent.
I understand the argument, but I don’t agree with it. The main reason being, no one is getting mad at other moms for blasting photos of their child on social media. Bloggers are being singled out. I know dozens of moms who post pictures of their children and they don’t get any backlash. Because their kids are cute and they deserve to be able to share photos of them.
I post pictures of Bastian because I love him, and I love getting to show how cute he is. My intent is good, I just want to share photos of my really cute baby. That’s all. There are no ulterior motives behind the photos. I, personally, think there aren’t enough cute photos of babies out there, so I don’t think anyone should be mad about cute babies!
You misrepresent the argument. It’s more the fact that mommy bloggers profit off their kid’s image, unlike “other moms” who don’t make money from it. That’s the real issue – which you sidestep. This is simply dishonest: “My intent is good, I just want to share photos of my really cute baby. That’s all. There are no ulterior motives behind the photos.” Yes, you post pics of your son because you love him (of course you do, no one is saying you don’t) but also because companies pay you to promote their products using his image. Just own it.
I’m sorry you felt like I misrepresented that fact! Some bloggers do make a significant income off of blog posts that include their child. I won’t speak for them, but I’ll say that honestly, I don’t. Here’s how I feel about that, though. Say a company sends me a cute outfit for my son, and they pay me a small sum to tag them in a photo of him wearing it. I don’t see this as immoral, as long as it’s a product I would’ve endorsed anyway. Is this any different than blogs and instagram accounts that are dedicated to pets? All of the successful pet instagram accounts I follow make money off of posting their pet with products that companies send them. I don’t view this as inappropriate.
So I would say that personally, no, I don’t have ulterior motives. I don’t post photos of my son simply because of a potential income I could make off it, I post it because I want to. And as I said, I don’t make money off of companies sending me products to promote with his image. I really appreciate your opinion and your perspective, because I agree that I may have unintentionally misinterpreted myself.
You misrepresent the argument. It’s more the fact that mommy bloggers profit off their kid’s image, unlike “other moms” who don’t make money from it. That’s the real issue – which you sidestep. This is simply dishonest: “My intent is good, I just want to share photos of my really cute baby. That’s all. There are no ulterior motives behind the photos.” Yes, you post pics of your son because you love him (of course you do, no one is saying you don’t) but also because companies pay you to promote their products using his image. Just own it.
Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s ethical, and you absolutely can be mad when a friend posts a photo of you without your consent. “I think it’s okay to post pictures of my child on the internet because everyone does it and it’s a legal way to make money” is a pretty weak argument.
You misrepresent the argument. It’s more the fact that mommy bloggers profit off their kid’s image, unlike “other moms” who don’t make money from it. That’s the real issue – which you sidestep. This is simply dishonest: “My intent is good, I just want to share photos of my really cute baby. That’s all. There are no ulterior motives behind the photos.” Yes, you post pics of your son because you love him (of course you do, no one is saying you don’t) but also because companies pay you to promote their products using his image. Just own it.
Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s ethical, and you absolutely can be mad when a friend posts a photo of you without your consent. “I think it’s okay to post pictures of my child on the internet because everyone does it and it’s a legal way to make money” is a pretty weak argument.