Feeling famous: Taylor Lorenz on kids and their presence online

If I googled you right now, would I find any cute baby pictures or embarrassing (but adorable) anecdotes about you? If I found some (or didn’t), would you be pleased? disappointed? Kids born since the appearance of Facebook and other social media are just now discovering that they have online presences that they didn’t put there. Their responses to the discovery run a full gamut of emotions and raise numerous ethical questions. Taylor Lorenz, technology staff writer at The Atlantic, relates some of their responses and explores the issues in this February 2019 report.

Lorenz,  “When kids realize their whole life is already online”

1. What happens when kids realize their whole life is already online? Do the kids all respond the same way? Lorenz doesn’t make any explicit statement about how she personally views the situation. Do you think she should have? Why or why not? Explain your reasoning.
2. Some of Lorenz’s young interviewees are very pleased with their online presence. When Nate discovered himself online, he reported that it made him “feel famous.” Natalie said that she and her friends “were like, ‘whoa, we’re real people.’” Do you have, or have you ever had, a similar attitude towards your own online presence? How has your attitude evolved since you first came online? What accounts for any shift that you’ve experienced? (Before you address this question, we suggest that you google yourself. Any surprises there? Disappointments?)
3. For her They Say, Lorenz relies principally on statements drawn from her interviews with children and parents, and overwhelmingly the verb she uses for introducing their comments is “said.” Consult the list of verbs in Chapter 2 of your text and identify five places in Lorenz’s article where a different verb might add some variety. Which verbs do you recommend? Why?
4. Lorenz’s essay raises complex ethical questions. Proud, excited parents of babies and small children rarely hesitate to eagerly share images and anecdotes online, but as children get older, issues of consent and control emerge. How would you address these ethical considerations? At what age might children be able to exercise consent for posts about themselves? At what age should their veto power be respected? How would you deal with the disclosure of identifying information such as names and places of residence? At what age might children be allowed control over their own social media accounts? Write an essay addressing these questions using Lorenz and her interviewees as your They Say, and feel free to include your personal experiences or those of people you know.

Comments

[Anna Goodyear]

1. When kids realize their whole life is on social media from embarrassing pictures and stories it can affect them severely. Social media is a big aspect in today's world but when children who are 11 and under are discouraged and upset that they could simply google themselves and find almost every detail of their life. If children this young are so hurt and upset about every detail of their life imagine a middle or high schooler who may have made a mistake or a rumor was going around and its on the internet for anyone to see. I dont think Lorenz needed to give her views because you could see her view through the children's responses to her questions.

[Lily Ann Bagley]

Some kids do not like the idea of having pictures or comments about them out on the internet. Even before they have gotten any sort of social media, their parents have posted pictures of them on their accounts with out the child's permission. People cam find out where they are from, what sports they play, language they speak, and their whole back story. I believe that she should have stated her personal opinion on the topic to show how someone perceives what is going on. She tells these stories of kids who are having their personal information put on the internet without their permission and what the effects on them were. She should have voiced her opinion in the article to show how she views the topic at hand.

[Aleyah Carter]

1. I personally think that kids at such a young age find it cool that you can search their name up and find tons of information, but I feel that Lorenz thinks otherwise in that her attitude seems cautious and alert towards all the details that are truly revealed about an individual online. I wish she would've explained her feelings more so it doesn't seem like she's almost promoting the "google stalk".
2. I always thought my online presence was fascinated, but as I get older I realize that others post about me as well so I have to be cautious towards my actions even if I'm not the one creating the post. There are searches I've only simply been tagged in but the reputation of those things falls onto me.
4. As far as consent, any person should be addressed about filming/photography situations because every picture posted is more information leaked. Social media is an outlet for creativity, but unfortunately it can turn into a dangerous field for criminals or issues like cyberbullying.

[Katelyn Tindal]

In response to question one, I feel as though adding her own reaction along with the reaction of those around her would have added more pathos to her article. This would have made the article more intriguing for readers especially if a response was very abnormal.

[Benjamin Neiconi]

When kids finally realize how much is online, you usually have a mix of responses: varying from, "wow this is so cool!" to "I don't like this... at all". I feel as if kids should not go to either extreme. At the end of the day, if you're worried about what you can find, there's nothing you can do to stop.

The author chose not to input her thoughts most likely because this is a big deal right now. Some parents are nervous and over protective of what is happening online while others are accpting to all that is going on. She has done the right thing to cover it while not inputing her own thoughts because now she is in the clear from any heat.

[Hannah]

1. I think it is very different for kids now, growing up people never really had to worry about social media because most of our free time was spent outside. There are seven year olds with social media accounts and personally I think it is ridiculous. We train kids to be so indulged and obsessed with social media that they grow up worrying more about how many likes they get on their post than who they really are as a person. Though not all of the kids respond the same way I think there is a reasonable line between sharing moments with facebook friends and giving various facts and stories about a child. Lorenz did not provide any personal views but I do not think their views are necessary or relevant; the article is about children discussing their parents sharing them on social media and how they feel about that therefore no further views from the author are necessary.

[Jailah Layton]

4) I think children should be able to start exercising consent for posts about themselves around the ages of 10-13, when their presence and their peers presence on social media slowly starts to become alive. Majority of parents have pictures of their children from a young age on their social media, however young teens start to understand how social media can affect them and their future, and how they feel about certain things should be up to them.

[Taylor]

When kids soon realize that their life is online they get frustrated at their parents and mad because they're doing it without their permission. Now, most of the kids respond some with the feeling that their parents are invading their privacy but some believe that it is fascinating what they find out about themselves. When these kids get worked up over these posts this young in life they have no idea just how much harder it gets when they hit a higher age. In the end, I feel she should not have put their information out without permission just like their parents did.

[Samantha Werts]

Kids are often shocked when they find things online without their own social media account. Young children have very fragile feelings and often feel hurt when they find embarrassing photos of themselves online. The author really should have stated her opinion on the topic to ensure her academic honesty in terms of her biases.

[Pablo Escibar III]

The kids are shocked that their parents post everything online without them knowing. Most of the kids are shocked when they find out from searching for it and not being told. I don't think that lorenz should have a comment in this situation unless she personally experienced it.

[Kevin Thompson]

1. When kids find their whole life online, they were either very upset, or in awe of the moments they did not remember that made an appearance online. This article is just about the opinion of the kids that this has happened to. This topic does not apply to her considering her age so she cannot come up with a stance.

[Mike Hunt]

1. The kids react surprised when they find out that they are online. They all, for the most part, act the same way when they find out that they are online. I think that she feels no good toward the situation because she wrote about it. If she had good feelings about it, she most likely would not have written about it.

[Carmen Gardner]

The reaction that kids have when they realize that their lives are already online is a very mixed bag. Some kids are horrified that there are "embarrassing" baby pictures on the internet that were posted without consent and other kids are excited and think that it is super cool. The reactions are varied all across a spectrum from pleasure to distaste. I think that it was a good idea that she did not put out her own personal opinions because it is about the children, not her personal opinions. She is not a child and was probably not a child during the social media age. She has not experienced what it was like to be a kid during that.

[Katharine S Harper]

2. I am kind of shocked when I look myself up, seeing that I have old accounts and posts that I have no recollection of is unsettling because I cannot take it down. My view on present online has not hanged much since i first came online, I have nothing to hide really, so i am not that worried about my online presence. however, as I become more active online I do have to be more conscious about what I post because I know that everything stays there forever. The only very scary thing is seeing my address and phone number because that is personal information someone could find me with.

[Brittany Bumpers]

When kids realize their whole life is on the internet,some of them are okay with it and they want to research themselves. However, kids such as the ones in the article are not okay with their whole life being online.The kids become obsessed with their online life and it takes away from their childhood because they are paranoid that their photo will end up online. Lorenz should not have commented on her personal views because it is about the positions of the children she is writing about. Her opinion may be invalid because the article is about how the children feel about being online at an early age.

[Hannah]

Kids are generally surprised when they find things about themselves on the internet. Some kids didn't really care and just thought it was cool but other kids reacted poorly and didn't like how public everything was on the internet. I think Lorenz's article was more focused on how kids felt about the situation so putting her beliefs in the article would've taken away from the main focus.

[Ben Dover]

2. At first i was excited to be online an thought the same thing, but i dont think i really wanted pictures of myself online, just pictures could have for myself, later in life i got an instagram to help i guess show off what ive done with my friends like going to beaches and stuff. Now i really dont care about if i famous or not, if i have a picture of something find funny or just find fun i post it without a care in the world.

[Drevon McAllister]

Some kids overreact, some under react, and there is essentially a common theme of worry regarding how this can effect them in the future. Having a whole life online is a bit worrying to some, but to others they feel as though it was inevitable anyway. Lorenz not expressing explicit stands on the subject is a welcome addition, or I suppose lack thereof, as it allows her to distance herself from the topic and let the “kids” speak.

[Madison Sexton]

I think parents should always take into consideration their children’s feeling on photos of them being posted online. I think as soon as kids understand what Facebook, Instagram and social media in general is, is when parents should start asking permission to post pictures online. This is the time where their friends will also be exposed to these outlets so it is important to make sure your child does not feel uncomfortable or embarrassed. Parents should also be mindful of who follows their accounts and can see what their children look like, where they live, and where they are going. Having information such as this online can be very dangerous for both the child and their family. I think children should take control of their own social media accounts in middle school, but it is at the discretion of the parents and the maturity of the child to determine when they should begin posting online.

[Tater chip]

2. I was excited the first time I saw my picture on google images. My attitude has not really evolved because there is not anything that someone can find out about me. There is only my profile picture for Instagram. I definitely would be worried if I found my address or any other information about me.

[Jami]

1) Some of the kids reacted well when they realized their whole life is already online, saying that they felt famous or that they were real people. Some of them felt that their privacy had been violated and were shocked that a lot of their life had been documented online without their consent. Also, I do not think that Lorenz should have stated her opinion because this was an article about how the kids felt about their online presence.

[Joe Swanson]

1. Kids act differently when they find out they are online at such a young age. Some kids can be more scared about how it can affect their futures while others do not care as much. I do not think she really needs to explain her personal views. This article is about the children's feelings of being able to be found online at such a young age and her personal views would take away from what the children have to say.

[Dan]

My attitude has been similar to those described by the kids that feel famous. My YouTube being shown when I search the name of the channel shows that it has gotten enough attention to be able to be seen. The reasons for having an attitude like this can be either positive or negative, depending on how the information is presented on the internet. As my channel has gained more attention, it has led to a more positive attitude toward my online presence.

[Madison Curran]

1. When kids realized their whole life was already online, they had a variety of responses. Some kids felt proud that they were already making their mark on the online world while others felt that their privacy had been severely violated. I feel that by leaving out her personal opinion on the matter, Lorenz added a lot of credibility to her article as an informational source. The article was unbiased and gave each kid an equal chance to express how they felt about their current presence online.

[Brelyn Harris]

2) Personally i did not have that same type of attitude towards my online presence. I started social media around a younger age and so for me to see my picture on the web or social media, i would not be surprised. Even with my mom uploading pictures on her Facebook, i was a little embarrassed but i soon did not care because it became an regular occurrence. My presence on social media has caused me to become more confident in myself and sharing my presence to other people in real life and online. When i searched myself,i did not find any photos that i did not know were up. I found my Instagram pictures, to no surprise and found very little information regarding me. There was even more regarding my name and other people, rather than about my own personal life.