WATCH ABOVE: A mother who regularly posts photos of her baby on Facebook has been accused of “oversharing.” Minna Rhee reports.
TORONTO – You’ve probably seen them popping up on your Facebook feed, photos of babies taking their first steps, kids blowing out candles at a birthday or children learning to ride a bike for the first time.
But it turns out not everybody likes being on the receiving end of those social media updates.
Jade Ruthven, a mother in Perth, Australia, received hate mail from an anonymous “friend” who accused her of oversharing on Facebook.
“I have got together with a few of the girls and we are all SO OVER your running commentary of your life and every single thing Addy does,” reads the note.
“She wears a new outfit – well take a photo and send it PRIVATELY to the person who gave it to her – not to everyone! We can’t wait for you to get back to work – maybe you won’t have time to be on Facebook quite so much,” the anonymous authors writes. “She crawls off the mat – we don’t care! She’s six months old, BIG DEAL!”
Tom Vassos, a social marketing expert and author of Desitination Innovation, said so-called “oversharing” could have a negative impact on a person’s reputation with friends.
“Think about it from this standpoint. If you post all of those things and all of your work peers and colleagues see those things, it could have an impact on your reputation, on your online persona.”
Vassos said if you want to share lots of baby pictures, create a separate group and only invite close friends.
“Consider setting up a whole separate group on Facebook that only their closest friends may see, and that don’t include their peers from work,” said Vassos. “That way you can over share because those people care to see all that.”
Ruthven has decided to continue her original approach, vowing to continue posting updates and photos her daughter Addison. An Australia comedian even came to the distressed mom’s defence and wrote an 870-word opinion piece about the letter for Australian website news.com.au, questioning why the offended author didn’t just speak to Ruthven or ‘unfollow’ her on Facebook.
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