⚠️ The DANGERS of Family Vlogging | Why I stopped sharing my kids on social media 

What are your thoughts on family vlogging and sharing kids on social media?

I am absolutely against sharing kids. I am with you that I see no good to it. Good for you on saying nope.

Well said! I applaud you for putting your children first and understanding their needs. You are a wonderful mom!

I applaud you for no longer putting your daughters on your social media. Teenage years are so tough as it is. There are a lot of negative and mean spirited people who are brutual with their comments because they are behind a keyboard. Moms need to put their children first.

I think you shouldn't show your one year old either. Many people ignore the fact that a lot of pictures that are on pedophile websites come from parents' social media... I am glad you made the decisions to not show your older kids.

I applaud you for this. I think a lot of parents do not have appropriate boundaries and view their kids as extensions of themselves. I am so glad you believe in their autonomy and right to privacy. I really don't like the idea of kids on social there are so many bad people out there.

I agree with you. Keep your kids safe and out of the public. There are way to many weirdos out there. I would also keep your toddler off social media for safety reasons.

This is a channel about how to live frugally and your travels. That is why I watch. You do a lot of research for your traveling and living frugal. We all appreciate all the advice you give. Keep your kids safe. ❤❤❤❤

If I could thumbs up a million times, I would. I love how thoughtful you are about every aspect of life.

If anyone leaves a negative comment on this subject you should block them. 1980s baby here. I agree with your thoughts. So glad we didn't have social media when we were maturing. My kids are completely off until they are old enough to have a job and pay for their own phones.

You do what is best for you and your family. It doesn't matter what other people think. 🌻

I agree with your decision about sharing the lives of your children. Increasingly I’ve observed that some viewers are quite “possessive” when it comes to why kids are not included or included in videos. Frankly the same trend has happened in family related reality TV. Kids aren’t content. They are kids who deserve respect, privacy, the ability to feel safe.

My younger boys are teenagers, and now that they are vested in their own social media with their peers, I have just begun to really (and still not too often) share their photos and their accomplishments on social media. Too many unsavory individuals out their who will take your child's pictures/videos and do unthinkable things with those images.

As someone who grew up without social media and My mother not sharing pictures of me on facebook because it didn't exist, I'm so so so happy that trail doesn't exist. I'm happy when I see parents respecting their child's autonomy and privacy. I think social media is a very individual thing.And it's important that people get to pick and choose what is posted and what is not online. I think it's so weird that people have whole vlogs with their family and children. So thank you for being a good mom!

It seems that anytime we share our children, there are some negative comments that cross the line for us. For some reason people just can't watch and enjoy without being invasive, mean, or filthy. It has definitely changed the way we share and what we share. Our children are with us and always around so of course they are seen, but we don't like to focus on them. And we can seriously relate to having toxic and dangerous family members or people in your personal life that you need to protect your children from. We're with you on this.

As their mother, you SHOULD do what you feel is best for the safety and welfare of your children!! I applaud this decision!!!

You are to be respected for respecting your kiddos.

100% agree that the teens need to be respected. I don’t even share my kid on social media. There are some real screwed up people out there, unfortunately.

That is why no amount of money would get me to do any type of social media so good luck to you and your family.

I agree with you! Good job, Mom!❤

YES. AUTONOMY AND. PRIVACY AND LIFE SAVING ESPECIALLY IN TODAYS WORLD. SAFETY IS. HUGE LIFE SAVING AN NECESSARY PROTECTION

I would not take any chances with my children, your smart to do this. Good you respect your kids. Safer all the way around. I do not think it is a good idea, better safe than sorry. Peace!

You're smart! None of their business.

👏🏽👏🏽 I’m sorry you felt like you had to put this video out but good on you for taking a stand. Our kids depend on us to keep them safe and protect them in all areas of life. I quit all social media because of this exact reason. I never want my kids to feel like I’m going to expose them in some way without their consent. I also don’t want a camera being shoved in their faces to be a norm in our house. I want them to be kids and enjoy their lives how they should.. How we grew up doing so without Internet and social media.

I agree with you. I don't do it with my family or adult children unless I would get their approval first.

I think the main reason people are asking is because of the budgeting and expenses. For instance, while you are traveling the expenses will be different for a family of 3 versus a family of 5. When you share your budget, it is good to know how many people you budget for. I can also understand that sharing where they are is definitely not in their best interests and I get why you don’t say anything either way.

Yeah Katie I think you are totally on point. It's such an evolving topic.

Perfectly said and a very good decision! Always, always do what is best for your family! ❤

You are so right to protect your children this way. I do the same. No apologies necessary.

I liked that you shared this information/opinion in a candid way. Keeping it real

That’s pretty respectable of your part to let them make a decision if they want to be on the internet.

Protecting your kids is your number one priority ..a great mama 💖

Absolutely couldn't agree more and you put it very nicely. As a parent our job is in part to pick up on the cues our children give regarding things that are good for thier wellbeing

I think that your approach is understandable, especially with your situation. I wondered where the older kiddos were so I'm glad you clarified. Thankful you all are doing well and enjoying the country! ❤

Glad to know they are traveling with you. I have so many happy memories from tent camping across the US.

I applaud you for keeping them safe. It's good to hear they are making memories going across the U.S.

Thanks for sharing this, it might make others think a little about how it may affect their children.

I totally respect and support your decision to not put your teens on your RU-vid channel. I’m enjoying all your videos and travel updates. Keep having fun on your travels.

Makes sense. Always protect their privacy. Plus I agree you don’t want them having any type of negative feelings when you pull out your phone. That would ruin family times

Absolutely agree, thank you!

Awesome explanation of why you're not sharing your kids and I applaud you! You seem like a really good mother.

Absolutely the safety of your children comes first above the internet, you tube community, etc. You don’t owe anybody access to your children via this platform. There are some super weirdo evil souls out here. I definitely wouldn’t share teens. Unfortunately stalkers can use the web to find exactly where you are at. I really liked that you didn’t say where your land is at. Keep up the good work Mama Bear!!!

The worst thing about the social media platforms is that it makes people think they have an opinion that needs to be heard. The ability to MYB is a dying art. You're doing a good job, try to ignore the noise.

Well said!

You are smart and show respect for your kiddos. No one else's business.!

Well said! Your gut instinct is always right ✅

You are such a great mom! I totally agree! We don’t put our 2 yo grand on social media. I love your videos!

I totally agree. Each family has to decide what is best for them. Putting your kids first is being a good Mom.

I 100% agree with you! I had a homeschooling blog that showed my children,but once they went to college, I decided to take it down. Recently I went through all of my posts and took out all the photos that showed their faces and left in the rest and re-posted them all

Bravo to you there are a lot of strange people out there I wouldn’t put my girls out there either. You and your hubby are great parents!! Love your videos.

Protect your Cubs!

I think your approach is perfect. Children are people too and it should be up to them if they want to share their lives with the internet or not.

Your kids should always come first. Good job keeping them safe 💜

Good for you for putting your family first! I'm sorry you are receiving negative comments about doing that. I enjoy your podcasts. Your toddler is so cute!

very smart, keep them out of the public eye. and raising them off of device is a better way to raise them.

Good video well said😋

Great job Momma....always trust your gut feelings ! :)

Very good decision!

I agree with you.

I totally understand the need for privacy. I only asked about the kids because I've seen them before and you use to mention cooking for 5 but you didn't mention the number of people in your last video so wasn't sure if they older kids were still traveling with you. I remember seeing one of your videos when you were still single with your kids and I admired you for being a single mom and being so good with managing your household and finances. I also admire how one of your daughters was already working. For some reason I always thought the name "raising wildflowers" had something to do with you raising your kids and home schooling, etc. I thought you said you home schooled. Anyway, even if you don't show them on social media, I hope you continue to share about them and their accomplishments.

It’s up to you whether you share your girls- it’s your personal choice. I might say, Thank you for sharing the baby, I have no grandchildren so I love seeing those post. I agree with being careful about the risky business of sharing on media. ❤👏

I think it's generally a good idea not to post about kids. I quit a few years ago, and it seriously took me a while to rewire my brain! I want validation and to show off how great my kids are too, but that is immature and weak behavior. I had to be fully honest with myself about why I was posting. That, and watching other moms who lacked self awareness basically pimp out their kids for shameless validation. I just think how weird it would have been growing up seeing my parents whip out the camera on vacation and knowing they were trying to impress other people. It really makes parents look weak and I think social media is making parents more immature. Kids are having fewer examples of dignified role models who possess humility. Even when parents post and make everything look sunny in their lives, it still is looking more and more pathetic because I know their image is carefully crafted. Parents who dabble in this run the risk of raising narcissist.

Because of the not-so-nice ex, it's probably not safe to say if the girls are with you or not. Can you imagine being tracked down and confronted by him in a boondock situation where there may or may not be cell service?

I agree with you Katie…the jury is out on how You tube will effect the children but if we look at the children of reality TV families have faired……although You Tube is not half as intrusive it can be a slippery slope. Our children come first and I am happy that your teenagers are doing well.

You are smart. Protect your family. One of the Spanish bloggers. They beat up her daughter in school. Because she’s always putting them on you tube. You are doing the right thing. ❤

What a good mom you are to put your kids first. And for the haters, delete them.

Good judgement not to exploit your children ! Also demonstrates what a good Mum you are to be sensitive to your children’s feelings! And yes there are a real dangers with showing children/teens! Good for you🙏

I think your very wise because many homesteaders face the same scrutiny and harassment. That is scary especially with our current situation with perverts sick sick people as well as stalkers along with the awful sex trafficker's out there. Your protecting your kids.

I don’t think you should have any of your children on social media. There are too many predators out there.

I primarily stopped sharing mine mostly bc of the comments. They weren’t even necessarily negative but I didn’t like them. One of the most triggering was when a former coworker said I feel like I know everything about your kids 😳 Overall, I am not strongly against people sharing kids bc even if you share or don’t share, people can see your kids in other in-person settings unless we’re keeping them in a bubble. So I don’t get too worked up about it personally.

Good evening Katie ♥ I think if your daughters want to photo bomb your videos like Snuffleupagus does it should be there choice. I am totally with you I didn't have a cell phone until I was maybe 28 years old lol Microsoft windows didn't even come out until the year after I grew up!

While I have a cooking channel, I don't include my kids or husband, they don't want to be in the videos and I don't blame them. I myself want to be cautious about what I share and really just want it to be about food. I don't blame you at all for what you are doing, safety of our families come first, period. Thanks for always being honest and real. ❤

I no longer have social media but I stopped sharing my kids at all unless my kids gave me permission once they became middle schoolers. And then it was very seldom.

I hope you stop sharing content of Falcon too. There’s too many child predators out there. I think you could still get your messages across with just content of you and your husband 🙏🏼

Good for you! I am curious, though, are they enjoying the cross country travel? You & your husband are sharing so many unique experiences with your children. Kudos to you & your family.

Do you Boo! 😻

I feel like some people use their kids for gifts or money. My kids do appear sometimes in my videos, mostly just their voices and/or hands. I don't really share their faces much unless someone sends them a gift or something. Someone sent us a box of books once and I recorded us opening them; however, if they didn't want to be in the video then I wouldn't make them.

I haven’t commented before but I have to say if suddenly 2 family members are completely gone and never spoken about, it makes people wonder. A simple “my daughters no longer want to be part of the videos” would have sufficed. That’s all. Anyone who is a parent to a teenager will understand. Social media is a tricky walk to balance.

wise decision

I do not blame you one bit!

Here ❤❤❤watching.

I feel so grateful social media wasn’t a thing when I was a kid/teenager. My spouse and I discussed not sharing any images of our theoretical offspring at all online. We feel that sharing would be taking away some of their freedom/choice to be anonymous. No judgement to others for choosing differently unless they’re exploiting their children to make money. I feel like some nationwide legislation should be written to protect kids like some of the Hollywood laws for minors.

I guess I missed the part in the video that stated where your girls are? It doesn't appear that there is room for them to travel in your pickup with you, or stay in your tent. I might have missed that though.

I wish more parents thought the way you do. It's shocking to me how much private content of people's children is available on the internet. Not only is it unnecessary, it can be dangerous. I skip over reels and youtube content that has creator's children featured. Not everything should be shared.

Never apologize for keeping your kiddos first.

I watch several Homesteaders that have their children actively involved with their channesl Three Rivers Homestead, Tribe of Many and Ozark Family Homestead just to name ones that come to mind and I love seeing the kids and what they do but it's your choice.. I did wonder about where the children were at as far as on this journey, were they with grandparents? But it doesn't make a difference one way or the other. Anna In Ohio

I admire that you are paying attention to the kids and how youtube can affect them.

You are a great mom. I struggle with my kids just using TikTok and Coverstar let alone RU-vid. My kids could never handle it. Love your channel!!

I agree as to your teenagers. I also see zero benefits to any child being shared on social media, and don't belive they should be. Thats just my opinion. I don't believe any child has the ability to give consent as they do not have the maturity and life experiences to forsee any negative that may occur as an adult may be able to. I might suggest changing your profile picture since it is of your children. Its very scarey what somebody could do with a simple innocent picture of a child. Very sad we have to even consider these things but we do. Great subject to discuss.

Well put in a civil manner. Our son is 22 and respect his privacy BUT he has ADHD and paranoia. Has a fear of people.

My sons have no desire to be in my videos and my daughter has only been in a couple of them(her choice) and I would never force them to do any videos if they didn’t want to do them.

You're a great mom and you must always do what you feel is best for your family. You never owe an explanation for tkaing care of your kids!

There have been some disastrous and tragic cases recently regarding family blogging. I'm sure you have better sense and better ethics than those people, but still good to err on the side of caution, as even sensible people can be sucked in. You're not obligated to satisfy everyone's curiosity about every topic. It's OK to carve out some space for yourself and your family.

Do NOT share your kids online.

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I think what best for you when share your kids on social media but i like your thoughts on your family on social media on RU-vid

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Im interested in your travels, lifestyle and frugal tips and your recipes. No need to see your kids. I think we all know you have kids, but its not the focus of your channel, so im cool with you not including them. Btw, i do wish you could ban some of the people in the comments who are only here to dog you. Youre doing a great job carving out a really interesting life and i love watching your decision making.