In case you missed it, the “sharenting” trend – i.e. the phenomena whereby parents ‘overshare’ their children’s lives on social media – has been dominating headlines.
In the wake of an opinion piece by Angela Mollard for Rendezview over the weekend, much-loved local celebrities — in particular Zoe Foster Blake and Hamish Blake — have found themselves and their Instagram accounts a national talking point.
Mollard’s piece vocalised fears that images of the couple’s toddler son, Sonny, would be “shared by paedophiles”, adding that the “invasion of [his] privacy” could foster future resentment.
That said, many Australian celebrities post images and videos from their children’s lives, the majority of which are overwhelmingly positive. As explained by Foster Blake herself in Good Weekend: “I spend my life with this child; it would be weirder for me never to post a photo of him. And we are as sure as shit not exploiting him”.
While some have argued Mollard catastrophised an innocent, enjoyable expression of family life, debating the merits and potential downfalls of sharenting is valid. After all, in the writer’s own words, “we don’t know what impact all this ‘sharenting’ is going to have”.
We decided to look at the Instagram activity of 12 of Australia’s most well-known parents over the last 30 days to see how they approach ‘sharenting’. Here’s what we found.
Zoe Foster Blake
- Videos of/including child: 1
- Photos of/including child: 7
While certain videos and photos of young Sonny are particularly memorable, their quantity isn’t all that high.
In the last month Foster Blake has shared a range of content, much of it concerning the TV adaptation of her hit book The Wrong Girl or attending work events, rather than her son.
Husband Hamish Blake has rarely shared Sonny moments in the last month. Aside from a family photo at the zoo (where Sonny is barely visible), the comedian has shared just one video and one photo of his son.
David Campbell
- Videos of/including child: 1
- Photos of/including child: 14
The Today Extra co-host, who is a father of three, has actually shared more of his children in the last 30 days than Hamish and Zoe Foster Blake combined.
Rebecca Judd
- Videos of/including child: 0
- Photos of/including child: 19
Having just given birth to twin boys in late September, model and Channel Nine presenter Judd has shared a range of photos of her children, her newborns in particular.
Ben Fordham
- Videos of/including child: 4
- Photos of/including child: 4
The wildly popular TV personality and radio host has shared an equal number of videos and photos of his children. His wife, journalist Jodie Speers, gave birth to their daughter Pearl in October — a little sister to Freddy, who’ll turn two next month.
Roxy Jacenko
- Videos of/including child: 0
- Photos of/including child: 36
PR mogul and media aficionado Roxy Jacenko shared more than a photo per day of her daughter Pixie, four, and son Hunter, two.
Peter Helliar
- Videos of/including child: 0
- Photos of/including child: 2
Helliar, a panelist on The Project, is father to three boys — Liam, Oscar, and Aidan. Their presence on his social media pages is scarce.
Sophie Cachia
- Videos of/including child: 9
- Photos of/including child: 32
Popular parenting blogger Sophie Cachia, also known as ‘The Young Mummy’, is renowned for sharing the nitty gritty details of her family life with husband Jaryd and son Bobby.
In the last month, the 26-year-old has shared more videos of her toddler than any other celebrity — but her career has stemmed from capturing the day-to-day realities of motherhood.
Dave Hughes
- Videos of/including child: 0
- Photos of/including child: 0
Comedian Hughes is notoriously private when it comes to his three children – son Rafferty and daughters Sadie and Tess – and has shared nothing of them bar one photo of a child’s foot in the last month.
Carrie Bickmore
- Videos of/including child: 1
- Photos of/including child: 2
Channel 10’s Bickmore doesn’t post regularly on social media, when compared to her media counterparts. In the last month, just three posts have included her children Oliver and Evie.
Brendan Fevola
- Videos of/including child: 1
- Photos of/including child: 4
Ex-AFL star turned radio host Fevola semi-regularly shares content about his daughters Mia, Leni and Lulu.
Fifi Box
- Videos of/including child: 0
- Photos of/including child: 3
Fevola’s HIT network co-host, Fifi Box, has shared just three images of daughter Trixie in the last 30 days.
Chris Hemsworth
- Videos of/including child: 0
- Photos of/including child: 0
Despite sharing photos alongside wife Elsa Pataky, father-of-three Chris Hemsworth rarely shares photos of children Tristan, Sasha or India, if at all. In the last month none of Hemsworth’s kids appeared on his social media.
So there you have it, folks — the Blakes aren’t even “sharenter”s compared to some of their celebrity peers. Perhaps the reach and popularity of Sonny’s photos and videos are greater due to his parents’ mammoth followings.
What’s your take on sharenting? Let us know in the comments below.