Parents' shares on Instagram in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Many people had to stay at home with their families during the pandemic because of social distancing guidelines and lockdowns. This study aims to explore the content of 'sharenting' of parents during the early COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine periods in Turkey. In total, 401 posts were collected from public Instagram accounts of parents who shared their own children's photos or videos between 18th30th April 2020, via the most commonly used hashtags of #korona (#corona) and #evdekal (# stayhome). Descriptive content analysis was conducted within identified categories. Results revealed that the popular hashtag #stayathome is particularly important for its optimistic representation of the lockdown process in society. Content analysis results show that with the inclusion of social media shares, family members spent more time together, which can be seen as one of the positive consequences of this period. In the results of continued sharenting during the early pandemic, children's faces were mainly kept visible, which might concern children's privacy. Additionally, mothers shared more during this period. Consequently, education to increase awareness of such concepts gains importance, especially for the well-being and privacy of children and any future implications.