UM Today UM Today University of Manitoba UM Today UM Today UM Today

Wired: ‘Don’t pimp your kids for likes’

July 4, 2014 — 

In the July 24 issue of Wired magazine, post-graduate student Leslie Anderson was quoted in a story on why you shouldn’t use your kids to get “likes” on social media.

As the article reads:

It’s tempting to saturate your social media feeds with your child’s awesomeness. But what begins as a desire to share your tyke’s first steps can quickly devolve into a hunt for Likes, faves, and comments. At this point you have become a stage mom, with all the attendant issues. “The child may begin to feel responsible for their parent’s happiness, and that’s quite a burden to carry,” says Leslie Anderson, a University of Manitoba researcher who has studied child actors. So, yes, share some cute pictures. But don’t set your kid on the same path as the cast of Diff’rent Strokes. —BRENDAN I. KOERNER

© University of Manitoba • Winnipeg, Manitoba • Canada • R3T 2N2

Emergency: 204-474-9341