How often do you update your Facebook page with photos of your children? If you're anything like any other parent with access to a computer or smartphone, you probably do it at least once a week, if not more frequently.
Posting pictures of little ones on Facebook has become somewhat of an addiction for moms and dads, in an effort to share milestones and memorable moments with people who may or may not be important parts of their kids' lives.
In addition to putting up adorable images of infants sampling their first bite of strained peas or 5-year olds scoring a soccer goal, there also seems to be a growing trend of people posting photos of their pets. Are pet pictures on Facebook super cute … or slightly annoying?
I consider myself to be someone who loves animals, but I'm not currently a "pet parent." Seeing a random photo pop up in Facebook's news feed of an adorable Maltipoo curled up on top of a load of fresh laundry is hard to resist. But seeing shot after shot of a pit bull lying on the same floor in the same room of the same house is just too much. Bottom line, it's pretty darn boring.
Most people consider their pets to be part of the family, as they should. But the point of sharing photos of our children on Facebook is so that our friends can watch them grow and change over time and feel like they're involved in their lives. Does anyone really care about feeling connected to their friends' pets? Because like it or not, it isn't the same thing.
Pets are cute and sweet and give us a warm fuzzy and all that good stuff. But as much as we love them, they really aren't "kids." We don't need their lives — which consist of sleeping, eating, and sitting by the front door waiting to be taken out to do their business in the snow — documented on a Facebook timeline. You adore your pet, we get it. But we don't need a visual every single time Rover rolls over to have his belly scratched.
The bond between humans and their animals is undeniable, but should pets really be treated as kids when it comes to social media sharing?
Image via plong/Flickr
