Managing sharing is caring. Mothers’ Social Media Dilemmas and informal reflective practices on the governance of children’s digital footprints

"Sharenting" is a usual habit for families in the digital age. While media outlets describe parents as inattentive and naïve about it, empirical data shows that many of them face digital dilemmas about this practice. Little is known, though, about the refl ective practices parents engage in when trying to tackle these dilemmas. To fi ll this gap, this study explores how a parenting forum can work as an informal refl ective and learning site where parents naturally discuss Social Media Dilemmas (SMDs) associated with sharenting. Th e contribution reports on fi ndings from a thematic analysis of 1,626 posts from 47 discussion threads, where parents sought their peers' advice and support to deal with these kinds of predicaments, looking at how these naturally occurring conversations can help parents learn about and make sense of the new challenges posed by the evolving communication ecology in terms of governing their children's digital footprints.