How much should we share online?

Before having children I didn't think twice about adding someone to a social media account, I'd talk to my friends about everything and share the private things in my life with out batting an eye lid. That all changed when in 2009 following Eva's arrival I met Chany, a teenaged girl from Australia. My meeting with her on Bebo was to change my view of social media all together.

When I first met her or rather she added me, she seemed fine, nothing court my eye about her at all. It was only a few weeks later she emailed telling me she'd found a "fake" (someone who steals your photo's and uses them as their own online) of me and directed me to the account. I was horrified by what I found, some random person had stolen the photo's of my daughter and we're now pretending to be me, to be Eva's mum! I quickly reported the account and thankfully it was removed. Days later another fake profile appeared, and another and another. All of them using my photos, all of them pretending to be me. It made my skin crawl. I don't know how I found out, but as it turned out the person behind it was this Chany character. I deleted her right away and made my account private but the damage was done, she'd stolen and kept my photo's on a private photo bucket account meaning she had photo's of my daughter and I couldn't do anything about it. She became slightly obsessed, finding conversations I had online with friends and copying them, using Myspace to make more fakes and having the same conversations. She changed Eva to being called "Peaches", knew details about her birth, knew details about my relationship.. even the town I was from. It was the biggest wake up I had. I cried many times knowing someone had my daughter's photos and I had no clue what she was using them for! Still to this day I don't know if she still has my photos.

Now I am very careful about the information I share online. I no longer tell people my last name, share my birthday or even where I am from. I am very private with my photos, only a handful of people can see my photos on Facebook, people I trust and know. When I began this blog I was hoping to share my son's first year and Eva as she grows but I haven't been able to. I fear someone will take those little moments and make them their own, it makes me anxious. Slowly I am beginning to share little details with the world but it's going to be a long process to start trusting the internet again.

The internet these day's is so easily accessed, by anyone of any age. When you look how many pages views you have on a post.. how many of those people do you think you know? When you share something online who are you sharing it with? do you know those people? It's scary to think alot of people log on to Facebook and twitter and happily share their lives with people they've never met and will never meet. Of course not everyone out there is a Chany, that's something I have come to realise, but with the internet being so easily accessed.. how much should we share online?

Bean xo