Why Privacy Matters : Qualitative Research on the Phenomenon Sharenting

Sammanfattning: Sharenting has become closely intertwined with common parenting practices. The term is produced from sharing and parenting and it refers to personal information of children published by the child's guardian on social media. The security of children's online privacy is threatened, not only by third parties but also by their parents’ social media disclosures. This research studies the phenomenon sharenting from a perspective of informatics, focusing on parents' behaviors online. The aim is to further understand how Swedish parents use Photo Sharing Networking Services (PSNS) to perform sharenting, what consequences they are aware of and what measures they take to protect the safety and privacy of their children online. Using qualitative semistructured interviews to find deep, empirical data and comparing it to a theoretical framework using a thematic analysis, this study contributes with an understanding of Swedish parents' reasoning, as well as their attitudes regarding the subject. In total eight interviews have been conducted and the result shows that parents share content of their children online with the intention to connect with others, collect memories and enhance their self-presentation. The considered consequences of sharenting found among parents are the danger of third-parties, and the risk of creating an inaccurate identity of their child. To protect their children online, parents use privacy settings and limit the content, but also ask for the child’s consent before sharing. The results show that Swedish parents are aware of consequences and measures that can be used to protect the privacy of their children, but do not always consider them when sharenting. The contributions of this research consist of support for the development of future privacy guidelines and raising awareness on the topic.