“Sharenting”: What happens when children's lives are shared online? With Keneisha Sinclair-McBride, PhD
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What exactly is “sharenting” and how is it defined?
Parents today are documenting their children's lives in ways no previous generation could. From ultrasound images to funny toddler videos to graduation photos, kids' milestones and everyday moments often end up online. In fact, parents posting about their children is so common there's even a word for it. Sharenting. For many parents, sharenting is a way to connect with far-flung friends and family. Family, seek advice and support, or just document family life. But psychologists and other researchers are increasingly asking what it means for kids. What are the effects of growing up with a digital footprint that begins before birth? How do young children and teens feel about it? How can families balance connection and community with kids' need for privacy?
And how is AI changing the risks of sharenting in 2026? Welcome to Speaking of Psychology, the flagship podcast of the American Psychological Association that examines the links between psychological science and everyday life. I'm Kim Mills. My guest today is Dr. Kenesha Sinclair McBride, a licensed clinical psychologist and the Associate Chief of Integrated Behavioral Health at Boston Children's Hospital. She's also an assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School. As a clinician, she provides evidence-based treatment for children and adolescents with depression, anxiety, and other conditions. She also writes and speaks on adolescent mental health, social media, and digital well-being.
She recently spoke with APA's magazine, Monitor on Psychology, for an article on charenting and its implications for children and families. Dr.
Why do parents choose to share their children’s lives online?
Sinclair McBride, thank you for joining me today. Thank you so much for having me. Let's start with a basic question. What is sharenting? How do you define it in your work and when you're talking to parents and kids?
So sharenting is sort of a a modern word that we've come up to kind of describe what it means to share your parenting online. And when we think about that, it can take so many different forms. Most people think about sharing on social media, but before that there were blogs, people posted on Twitter, things like that. So this is not like a new phenomenon, but it's definitely taking off in a different way in 2026.
What motivates most parents to share their children's lives online? And before we get into the risks, are their benefits?
So most people are kind of going into this with um a as a bid for connection and to maintain relationships and keep family up to date, friends up to date, people that they don't get to see on a regular basis. A lot of people talk about, you know, posting things on Facebook for the grandparents, that sort of thing. And for other people, there are kind of parenting communities that can kind of spring up based off of various different parenting philosophies, um, parenting styles. different identities people can hold. So there are there can be kind of positive community building aspects of this and most people are going into it with that intention.
So one of the biggest concerns that people raise about charenting is digital privacy. What kinds of privacy risks are parents creating when they post about their children online and with the rise of AI? Are those risks different now than they were even a few years ago?
I would say that the risk definitely increased now because um, you know, from the beginning, when you post something on the internet, it no longer really belongs to you. Anyone can download it, anyone can access it and do whatever they would like with it. So there's that component. And now that we have AI, people can manipulate images that are even very harmless, very innocent into things that are more sinister. So there are new problems.
Let's talk about consent.
What privacy and safety risks arise from sharenting, especially with AI?
At what age can children meaningfully weigh in on whether they want their photos or stories shared? And is there an age at which they should have full veto power? This is such an interesting thing.
Interesting component of the issue because technically kids can't really consent in terms of legally having the right to control over the decisions their parents are making.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What exactly is “sharenting” and how is it defined?
0:00–1:38
2
Why do parents choose to share their children’s lives online?
1:38–3:37
3
What privacy and safety risks arise from sharenting, especially with AI?
3:37–15:02
4
At what age can children meaningfully consent to having their photos shared?
15:02–20:00
5
How can parents start age‑appropriate conversations about sharenting with their kids?
20:00–21:05
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Speaking of Psychology
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