Dear TGV,
I’m hoping you can lend some much-needed perspective before I wade into conflict with my daughter. I’m in my early seventies and, while I do my best to keep up, social media has never really been my cup of tea. My daughter, on the other hand, posts about everything online—sometimes it feels like nothing is off limits.
More and more often, I'm seeing stories or photos about our family events, my health updates, and even little things I’ve shared with her in confidence popping up on her Facebook or Instagram. She has a wide circle of friends and acquaintances on these platforms, and it makes me deeply uncomfortable to know my business is available to them all—often before I’ve had a chance to process things myself or decide who I want to tell.
I know she means well, and in her mind, she’s sharing because she’s proud of me or finds our family moments sweet or funny. But it feels like my privacy isn’t being respected, and I’m starting to dread opening my phone for fear of what’s been shared next.
Is it unreasonable to ask her to stop posting about me unless she checks with me first? I don’t want to hurt her feelings, but I think there needs to be some boundaries. How should I approach this without causing a rift? Am I just being old-fashioned, or is it fair to want some control over what’s shared about my own life?
Thank you,
Unsocial Media Mom
