More Aussie kids are getting their own social media accounts but experts warn there’s ‘no safe age’

AUSTRALIAN parents are sharing photos of their children on social media with hopes of creating the next wave of pint-sized influencers. And it’s more common than you think.

Samantha Dybac and her daughter Mischa Evans at their Sydney home. Mischa has her own Instagram account despite being under 2 years of age. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

AUSTRALIAN parents are increasingly sharing photos of their children on social media, with many hopeful of creating the next wave of pint-sized influencers and Insta-celebrities.

The trend has seen more than 230,000 Aussie kids under the age of 13 get their own social media profile, according to a new study.

While more than half of their parents are choosing to lock down access to their account to limit online risks, technology and education experts urged careful consideration of sharing photos online at all as there may be “no safe age for children on Instagram”.

The Finder.com.au study of more than 2000 Australian parents found children as young as one year old had social media accounts in their own names, in a trend affecting 230,000 children, or six per cent under the age of 13.

PR agency founder Roxy Jacenko created an Instagram profile for her daughter, Pixie Curtis.

Two thirds of those accounts were run by their parents, circumventing age restrictions on social media for children aged 12 years and under.

While some of these social media profiles were designed to attract the most attention and commercial offers, like Roxy Jacenko’s daughter Pixie Curtis, more than half of the parents sharing their children’s photos were tightening security settings to limit their audience, the survey showed.

Finder.com.au telco expert Alex Kidman said the vast number of children with social media accounts may reflect the growing profiles of internet influencers.

“When you look at the money a star toddler can make on Instagram, it’s perhaps not surprising,” he said.

Pixie’s Instagram.

“This is the 21st century version of the Hollywood starlet. At the same time, it’s slightly alarming that we didn’t learn the lessons from some of those child stars.”

Mr Kidman said it was heartening to see many parents did not take online risks lightly, and had changed their privacy settings or vetted their children’s online followers.

“There’s a growing and welcome awareness of security risks,” he said. “Of those who post pictures of their children, 66 per cent tightened their security or only shared photos with their friends.”

It’s the approach taken by publicist Samantha Dybac, 38, from Sydney, who created an Instagram profile for her 21-month-old daughter Mischa shortly after she was born.

Ms Dybac said she immediately restricted the account to friends and family, and ensured it did not feature her daughter’s full name, location, or embarrassing family snaps.

Publicist Samantha Dybac says her daughter Mischa’s Instagram account is designed to share photos with family and friends only. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“It wasn’t to create a marketing and sales channel for her but more because I found it was the easiest way to share photos of her with our friends and family, and particularly with our relatives who live overseas,” she said.

“I certainly have a very strong view on what people should or shouldn’t share in terms of photos. Once it’s up there, it’s public domain and everyone can download and screenshot it. I’m very mindful of that.”

Cyber safety educator Leonie Smith said parents could also remove or filter comments posted to their children’s Instagram accounts but warned that there were age restrictions on many social media accounts for good reason, and parents of primary school children should not “cave in” to pressure from their children to use the services.

“There’s no safe age for children on Instagram,” she said.

“The earlier you have your kids on social media, the riskier it is that they will end up relying on it for personal validation. There’s also a lot of content on Instagram that is totally unsuitable for children ... and there’s a lot of bullying that goes on in the private messaging feature.

“It’s a very complex issue but I haven’t seen one child psychologist or person in law enforcement say that putting your child on Instagram is a good idea.”

Only one in five parents did not share photos of their children online in any capacity, the Finder.com.au survey revealed.