Elizabeth Banks

“David After Dentist” is real, folks. And Charlie, who bit his brother’s finger? I thank Charlie's parents for that silly-tastic video that has brought me and my nephew hours of joy. Many moms and dads think their kids are stars, but what would you do if your kid’s adorable picture, funny rant, or quirky dance became an Internet craze?
 
I ask because I am pretty sure my response would involve tears, a rant about privacy settings, minor shame and, at the tail end, a bit of pride (my kid is really cute).

Posting a cute photo of your toddler or sharing a funny kid-vid with your family can explode if it’s forwarded to the right inbox. If a parent puts it on the web, it’s basically fair game for memes and Facebook pages worldwide. So if you do it, just know the consequences.

There are three ways to deal with this:

• If you don’t like the attention (and you still have the ability), take it down.
• Take it with a grain of salt. Don’t overreact and let it blow over (because internet sensations are just that—sensations).
• Enjoy it—your kid might enjoy the publicity it brings them.

This is what Sammy, the “Success Kid,” had to say about scary things on the internet:

For me, keeping my kid off the web is a priority. Because I'm me, he gets photographed anyway. So if I can protect as much of his privacy as possible before he even knows he has privacy to protect, I plan to do it. I’d like to keep his mug caption-free as long as possible. I send pictures the old-fashioned way - to his grandparents via snail mail. But that's me, I'm old-fashioned. Although, they see him, in all his adorable-ness, via Skype once a week anyway.

What would you do if your kid became an internet craze?

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