What Family Bloggers Can Learn from Kristen Bell’s Campaign Against the Paparazzi

What Family Bloggers Can Learn from Kristen Bell's Campaign Against the Paparazzi
What Family Bloggers Can Learn from Kristen Bell's Campaign Against the Paparazzi

Actors Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard, who are new parents themselves, have recently led a campaign to help protect children of public figures from getting harassed by the paparazzi, a movement that is slowly gaining steam in Hollywood.

Being an entertainment blogger and having two children myself, I've seen and speculated on both sides of the story. While there are those stars who manage to keep their family out of the public spotlight, there are also those who celebrate their family's celebrity status by sharing photos on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and bask in the limelight that comes along with their public projects and promotions. It can be argued that some of these celebrities spend their lives courting publicity and attention, and then, when it doesn't suit them anymore, they shift the blame and responsibility onto the media.

Still, I can understand where Kristen and Dax are coming from. All they simply want to do is protect their children from unwanted and unsolicited publicity. So far, many media outlets have gotten on board with their "No Kids Policy" including People magazine, Just Jared, Entertainment Weekly, and Buzzfeed. These media outlets along with many more have pledged their efforts to not post photos of celebrities' children without their prior consent.

Related: 7 ridiculous pieces of parenting advice from Gwyneth Paltrow

With all of this talk, I can't help but wonder what mom and dad bloggers can learn from this new initiative. Many bloggers have no qualms sharing the day-to-day happenings of their kids online. In doing so, are we walking a fine line of being a "parentazzi" ourselves?

When we're so used to interacting and sharing our parenting blog posts on social media to a normally friendly and supportive audience, it's easy to forget there could be other people we don't know with questionable motives for looking at these posts. By sharing news of our children's accomplishments, could we be encroaching on their privacy and safety the same way the paparazzi encroach on that of celebrity children?

There are a number of blogs where parents reveal their children's real first and last names along with their location, their vacation plans, and so on. This is all information that could be easily manipulated online and could lead to potentially dangerous and unwanted situations. While I make a concentrated effort to not post my children's photos or their identities publicly online, it doesn't mean I don't like to share information about them at all. Instead, I'm very careful in only sharing their photos with people I trust, which for the most part includes just my friends and family. After all, just because I'm interested in sharing personal details of my life online, that doesn't mean my children will be, too.

At the end of the day, I'm sure everyone can agree that our children's online safety is far more important than the number of clicks or ad revenue we get. Of course, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't blog about our families at all. Instead we should just be a little more careful about protecting their true identities, which is something I'm sure Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard can get behind as well.

Photo Source: PacificCoastNews.com


- By Joanna Mazewski


For the 20 worst parenting overshares on Facebook, visit Babble!

MORE ON BABBLE
10 famous moms caught breastfeeding in public (and we have the pics!)
11 mistakes all parents make -- even the perfect ones!
7 infamous child stars who have gone off the deep end