A mom blogger who faced backlash for posting about her “least liked” child on Instagram is speaking out.
Earlier this week, Katie Bower posted a picture of her son on her Instagram page, asking her followers to wish him a happy birthday. While this isn’t out of the ordinary for mom bloggers, Bower continued to tell her followers her son “statistically” performed the worst on her social media page.
“Instagram never liked my Munchkin and it killed me inside. His photos never get as many likes. Never got comments. From a statistical point of view, he wasn’t as popular with everyone out there,” she wrote on her now-deleted post.
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“Can we do this right? Because I truly know that my Munch deserves all the likes… whether or not a stranger gives it to him”
Buzzfeed’s deputy director of social news, Stephanie McNeal, tweeted about Bower’s ridiculous comments earlier this week, as well as an update that the Atlanta-based mom had taken down the picture of her son.
WATCH: How much should parents share about their children on the internet?
Bower then went on Instagram to address the backlash over video, Buzzfeed reported.
“I had to learn that the likes do not reflect much to me,” she said in her Instagram story. “That I had to choose that, because I work with brands that tell you the opposite. I read an article about how to grow your Instagram that tells you the opposite.”
READ MORE: Meet the parents who love (and hate) posting pictures of their kids online
She denied that she wanted her son to get “likes” on social media but instead, she said she will use the backlash as a learning opportunity.
“Kids know there’s likes on photos and it’s very human nature to compare. So for me, my personal growth journey is teaching my kids it doesn’t matter.”
Social media users react
Many Twitter users pointed out the need of being validated online, especially when you are a parenting blogger.
Others pointed out why they don’t post pictures of their children online altogether.
Posting photos of children online
“I think that social media is here to stay and that carefully thinking about what we post online — especially as it pertains to our kids — is an incredibly important process for parents to go through,” Dr. Jillian Roberts, a child psychologist and associate professor at the University of Victoria told Global News in 2017.
“We need to think through what kinds of images we post and what kind of tone and message we want our social media posts to portray.”
READ MORE: Sharenting — Are parents sharing too much information about their kids on social media?
She added whether or not you choose to post pictures of your child online, make sure you discuss online boundaries with other family members — at the end of the day, the majority of these images are public.
“It is a good idea for parents to be a role model for their children. Therefore, it is respectful and sets a good example for parents to ask the child if it’s OK to post something. As the child gets older, encourage him or her to do the same when they engage in their own social media activity.”
arti.patel@globalnews.ca