‘I don’t want my sister-in-law posting my daughter online – but I can’t offend her’

The woman didn’t know how to tell her sister-in-law to stop taking photographs of her daughter for social media – she even had her four-year-old as her profile picture

Having photographs and memories of our families and friends is so important – it’s nice to be able to sit and reminisce in the future and look back on good times. Not too long ago, these photos were usually printed and could be put into albums and were kept only in the family. With the rise in social media though, so many more people are uploading these memories to Facebook and similar social sites, which can make some people feel uncomfortable.

One woman took to Mumsnet to say that her sister-in-law had been posting pictures of her four-year-old daughter on social media – and she felt uncomfortable about it. She didn’t want to cause a scene about it, however, so didn’t know how to approach the situation.

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She wrote: “My sister-in-law has recently been posting pictures and videos of my daughter, four, on her social media and even as her profile pic.

“Am I being petty not being keen on it? I don’t know everyone on her friends list and would you ask before doing something like this?

“Just feels a bit weird. No other family/friends do this. I do it, but have strong privacy settings…Plus, she’s my child.”

Many people suggested confronting her, but it was clear the woman didn’t want to do this.

One said: ” The only way you can avoid this if you don’t want to confront her, is to stop sharing pictures yourself. You could set up an acquaintances group for her, and only share with friends, but that would depend on her not being friends with yours and their privacy setting.”

Another suggested just speaking to her, commenting: “Just ask her not to if you don’t like it. She is probably just a proud auntie but you can tell her you’re uncomfortable with it. If you put up pics she probably doesn’t know it bothers you.”

“Tell her nothing she takes is to go on social media”, someone wrote.

One Mumsnetter said: “You might have to lead by example on this – stop posting pictures of your daughter on social media and then in a couple of weeks tell her that you’ve decided to keep your kids off the internet, and please could she follow that. You can always have the option of sharing in Whatsapp groups after that.”

What would you do in this situation? Let us know in the comments.