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Although it's a popular trend for parents to curate social media accounts for their children, one woman raised a point as to why these accounts may potentially attract concerning social media users.
TikTok user Sarah Adams shared the video to her TikTok account, @mom.uncharted, where it was viewed more than 500,000 times. In her video, Adams showed what she found when looking through a child's Instagram account's follower list.
The account that Adams looked into, which is reportedly managed by the child's mother, has more than 100,000 followers. Her bio states that she is a model and influencer.
The video prompted numerous commenters to share their shock and to talk about parents who frequently post about their children on social media.
Gabrielle Usatynski, a licensed professional counselor, explained the "sharenting" trend to Parents Magazine, which essentially occurs when parents or primary caregivers share media about a child's growing years to social media.
Although these accounts have proven to be popular on various platforms, including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and have connected people, there were some drawbacks associated with "sharenting."
"Many children whose images are being shared do not have the ability to consent to them," the piece stated. "There are also safety issues experts fear parents aren't considering before they hit 'share.'"
Security issues, potentially opening up a child to cyberbullying and exposing children to predators were some of the outlined concerns.
"I clicked on the 'followers' and I didn't have to scroll," Adams said in her video. "I already see some questionable accounts."
She proceeded to scroll through the list of Instagram followers, though she blocked out their usernames.
One account that she visited did not have any photos and was following 11 other accounts, all of which were young girls.
"I've also noticed that a lot of these creeps are using the number 69 in their handle," Adams said.
She then searched "69" in the "followers" search bar, and sure enough, two accounts included the number in their handles.
Other search terms she tested when searching through followers were "cheese" and "girls."
In the comments section, Adams wrote that in her opinion, parents work hard to keep their children safe in the physical world, but they do not give the same level of caution to the "digital world."
She told Newsweek in an email that her content first focused around parental public oversharing and the concept of "sharenting."
Her content evolved as she saw how social media platforms change. Adams decided to take her thoughts to TikTok with the hope of connecting with like-minded parents.
"Discussing minor safety and online safety naturally fell under the umbrella of topics," she explained.
Many commenters agreed with her and voiced their criticism with parent-run social media accounts.
"Those mommy ran accounts are just so unsafe," @theedirtychez wrote. "I never understood the point of them!! Kids are not old enough to consent to having one!"
Another commenter suggested parents who run these accounts are "living vicariously" through their children instead of protecting them.
"I just went down the rabbit hole and IT'S TERRIFYING," @leahbfit_ commented. "There [are] SO MANY."
Adamsshared many videos that discuss what minors may be facing on the Internet.
A teenager gave Adams permission to show just a few of the messages she allegedly received from an adult man for one of her videos.
Explicit messages from different accounts flashed across the screen.
"They recognize as individuals who have grown up with social media how difficult and dark and scary it is," Adams said.
Adams said one of the most troubling things she has come across is the number of potential predators on social media.
"Whether they are adults messaging/following tweens and teenagers, or grown men following these 'mommy-ran' accounts of children—these people are not hiding over on the 'dark web,'" Adams said.
She also noted there is a disregard or lack of knowledge of the dangers from parents for a child's online safety.
Although there remain questions around security, social media accounts that prominently feature children continue to grow.
"I can't say I am surprised by the rapid growth of these accounts," Adams said. "The allure of money fame and Internet 'clout' can be blinding these days."
Update 3/8/22, 4:24 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional comments from Sarah Adams.
About the writer
Catherine Ferris is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting for the U.S. Trends Team. She ... Read more