Do you teach your daughter about social media?
223 likes.
527 followers.
We know that Instagram numbers matter to our daughters.
“You are so perfect.”
“Love you so much.”
The feedback our girls receive on their Instagram posts matters even more.
But does your daughter know what matters to you when it comes to her presence online?
We’ve given our girls permission to have an Instagram account, but are we teaching them how to appropriately represent themselves on the popular social media site?
Instagram offers us a great excuse to communicate with our daughter about our family value system. Talk to her about how her posted images and words matter. Help her understand that what she does and says online makes up her reputation.
7 Things To Teach Your Daughter That She Should Not Post on Instagram
1. Selfies
There simply isn’t a need for turning the camera around on yourself, puckering up your lips and posting such an image. I’m all for girlfriends posing and making silly faces together, but let’s raise confident girls who don’t need to post continuous photos of their faces. Just say no to the solo selfie.
Teach your daughter that posed selfies are unbecoming and unnecessary.
2. Provocative swimsuit photos
There is no need, at any age, to show your body online to anyone no matter how cute or fit you may be. Living in Arizona where the sun always shines means girls are constantly in bikinis poolside. I have asked my daughter to be mindful of posting photos online of herself, alone or with friends, in swimwear.
When we vacationed at the beach last year, my daughter asked me to take some pictures of her and then asked me to help her pick appropriate ones to post. The only images of her in a two-piece that appear on Instagram are ones that I have taken and we approved together.
Teach your daughter the importance of modesty online.
3. Her entire life
We should all be living our best life offline. Social media should only contain a fraction of the goodness that is really going on in our lives. All of us know people who post every detail of their days online. We know where they are, who they’re with, what they’re doing and what food they are eating. There is nothing interesting about the person who puts every minute of their life continuously on social media.
Teach your daughter to think of Instagram as a snapshot into her life not a diary of her entire existence.
