In honor of the Fourth of July, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, just shared a family photo on Facebook with his wife and three daughters. Prior to many internet users pointing out Zuckerberg for concealing the faces of his two elder kids, August, age 5, and Maxima “Max,” age 7, the photo was adorable and joyful and received a lot of likes. The fact that Zuck just covered the faces of his older kids rather than his toddler’s face was more intriguing.
Details on Mark Zuckerberg meticulously obscures the faces of his children in family photos posted on Instagram, and you should do the same
“Fascinated by Zuck’s choice to not have his kids’ faces on his social media platform,” wrote users on Instagram and other social media sites. Although I could be incorrect, I believe they were making a point about how ironic it is that despite his company’s reliance on facial recognition, he won’t reveal the identities of his own children. I find it fascinating when adults decide to post pictures of their children on social media.
While some users praised his choice to hide his children’s faces to safeguard their privacy, many argued that Zuckerberg was taking this action to protect his kids from the negative aspects of social media. Given that his business has frequently been accused of obtaining customers’ personal information as they use social media platforms like Facebook, several users even branded the CEO of Meta a hypocrite.
Although there appear to be many other reasons for Zuckerberg’s decision to exclude images of his children, this choice applies to all of his social media posts, not just this particular one. He purposefully hides his children’s entire faces in these posts.
Even many prominent CEOs of the technology industry, such as Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and even Steve Jobs, used to prevent their kids from using social media. Apple CEO Tim Cook once said in an interview with The Guardian, “I don’t have a kid, but I have a nephew that I set some limitations on. I won’t permit some things, and I don’t want them on social media.
It becomes significant to acknowledge that covering the faces of children is something that everyone should consider doing when influential persons who have themselves fashioned the social media ecosystem make a conscious effort to protect their children from it.
Social networking is entertaining, but it’s not secure. Children who don’t even know are the most vulnerable to the dark side when even adults who grant consent to be on the platform encounter so many negative sides of this digital world.
You cannot, however, dispute the fact that, when you share a photo or other content on social media, it no longer solely belongs to you. It is essential to safeguard your children’s privacy since, without their knowledge, they may be susceptible to the negative impacts of social media. These effects might last well into adulthood.
