Having your parents on Facebook can be quite the nuisance sometimes. For many parents who have millennial children, the surge of social media came as a culture shock. Some decided to join in on the hype to try to monitor their child's social life, while others strayed.
To many millennial teens or young adults, having your parents witness their coming of age activities can be less than pleasurable. Artist Gabriel Silveira illustrated the annoyances of having parents of Facebook in his recent series of illustrations.
He illustrates types of online parental behaviors through cartoon-like pictures, which depict parents who over share photos (especially baby photos), parents who are too restrictive, parents who flag their kids' photos and parents who obsessively stalk their child's account activity.
Social Media Parent Illustrations
Gabriel Silveira Drew the Annoyances of Parents on Facebook
Trend Themes
1. Online Parental Behavior - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Develop a social media platform or feature that allows parents to have a separate 'parent' account to interact with their children in a more appropriate and controlled manner.
2. Privacy in Social Media - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Create tools or services that empower individuals to better control what content is seen by their parents or other specific groups of people on social media platforms.
3. Digital Etiquette - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Develop educational programs or apps that teach parents about proper online behavior and etiquette to minimize annoying or invasive habits on social media.
Industry Implications
1. Social Media Platforms - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Build a new social media platform specifically designed for parents, with features and privacy settings tailored to help them navigate social media in a parent-friendly way.
2. Digital Privacy Solutions - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Create advanced privacy tools and technologies that enable individuals to have more control over who sees their content on social media platforms, addressing the concerns of both parents and their children.
3. Online Education - Disruptive innovation opportunity: Develop online courses or platforms that offer educational content to help parents understand social media etiquette and appropriate online behavior, fostering a more harmonious online environment.