What Your Family Should Avoid Sharing on Social Media

What should you not share on social media?

Avoid publicly sharing sensitive personal information, real-time locations, travel plans, financial details, or information about family members without their permission.

Social media makes it easy to share everyday moments with friends and family. But a birthday post, vacation photo, school picture, or location tag can reveal more than you intended. Even information that seems harmless on its own can add up to a more detailed picture of your household, routines, and personal life.

Knowing what not to share on social media can help protect both your privacy and your family. Just as important, talking about what your household posts about one another can make safer sharing a family habit.

Why Can Oversharing on Social Media Put Your Family at Risk?

One post may not reveal much. The concern is what someone can learn by putting information from multiple posts together.

For example, your profile might show your birthday. Older photos identify your neighborhood. A child's school uniform appears in another picture. Vacation posts show when your family is away from home. Individually, these details may seem ordinary. Together, they can reveal personal information, locations, relationships, and routines.

Information shared publicly can also reach a larger audience than you expect. Even with privacy settings in place, another person can save, screenshot, or reshare something you post. A good rule of thumb from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is to think before you share: consider how a post could affect your privacy, reputation, and the people around you.

That's why social media privacy isn't only about protecting your own account. What one family member posts can reveal information about everyone else.

What Personal Information Should You Avoid Sharing on Social Media?

Understanding what not to share on social media starts with recognizing information that could identify you, locate you, or reveal details about your household.

Think carefully before publicly posting:

• Your full birth date: A celebratory birthday post doesn't need to include every identifying detail.
• Your home address or phone number: Keep direct contact and location information off public profiles.
• Financial information: Don't share account information, payment cards, paychecks, or other financial documents.
• Personal documents: IDs, tickets, travel documents, and similar items may contain information you don't notice at first glance.
• Real-time locations: Location tags and check-ins can reveal where you are and establish patterns in your routine.
• Upcoming travel plans: Consider sharing vacation photos after you return rather than publicly announcing when your household will be away.
• Information commonly used to verify identity: Birth dates, previous addresses, schools, pets, and similar personal details can reveal more than you might expect.

That caution is echoed in social media safety guidance from the National Security Agency, which advises limiting the personal and location information you share online and reviewing who can see what you share.

What Should Parents Consider Before Posting About Their Children?

Social media privacy becomes a household issue whenever a post includes another person.

Before sharing a photo or information about your child, consider what the post reveals. A photo might reveal a school name or sports team on a uniform, a street sign, a regular activity, or another identifying detail in the background.

For children and teens using their own accounts, make personal information part of an ongoing family conversation. The FBI advises children to avoid sharing identifying details online, including their school, sports team, address, full name, birth date, and location information.

Parents can model the same care they expect from their children. Before posting photos or videos involving someone else, get their permission first – a simple practice also highlighted in the FTC’s guidance for safer sharing.

The goal isn't to stop your family from sharing. It's to help everyone pause and consider who needs to see the information and what the post might reveal.

Why Should You Be Careful About Location Sharing?

Location information deserves special attention because it can reveal both where you are and where you aren't.

Real-time check-ins, tagged vacation photos, regularly posted routes, and repeated visits to the same locations can create a picture of your habits. Photos can also unintentionally reveal locations through signs, landmarks, school logos, or other background details. Another practical safeguard is to turn off unnecessary location sharing for social media apps, photos, and videos, as outlined in the FBI’s online-safety guidance for kids and teens.

Before posting, consider a simple alternative: share later. You can still share the beach photo, family vacation, or special event without announcing your location while you're there. Waiting until you've returned home preserves the memory while revealing less about your current whereabouts.

How Do You Create a Family Social Media Plan?

Knowing what not to share on social media becomes easier when your family agrees on a few expectations in advance.

A family social media plan doesn't have to be long or restrictive. The Kids Mental Health Foundation offers a downloadable social media plan your family can use as a starting point. Think of it as a shared understanding about how everyone in the household will protect their own information and respect one another's privacy.

Consider agreeing on a few basics:

• What stays private: Decide which personal, financial, school, work, and location information your family won't post publicly.
• When you'll share locations: Establish whether your family will avoid real-time check-ins or wait until after trips and events to post.
• When you'll ask permission: Agree to check with one another before posting or tagging family members in pictures or sharing personal information about them.
• Who you'll connect with: Talk with children and teens about recognizing people they actually know and handling unfamiliar requests.
• What children should do when something feels wrong: Make sure they know they can come to a parent or trusted adult without fearing they'll automatically be blamed or lose device privileges.
• When you'll review the plan: Revisit your family's expectations as children get older, platforms change, or new social media habits develop.

And the rules shouldn't be just for the kids. The Kids Mental Health Foundation encourages families to involve everyone in the plan, including parents, and revisit expectations as children grow and circumstances change. A plan works best when it starts a conversation, not when it ends one.

How Do Privacy Settings Fit Into Your Family’s Plan?

Privacy settings are an important safeguard, but they shouldn't determine whether information is safe to post.

Review who can see your profile, posts, photos, friend or follower lists, and location information. For children and teens, parents should become familiar with the platforms they use and the privacy controls available. Consider setting younger users' accounts to private and continue talking with them about what they share and who can see it.

At the same time, remember privacy controls have limits. Someone who can see a post may still be able to save or share it. The safest approach is to treat privacy settings as one layer of protection and thoughtful posting as another.

Frequently Asked Questions About Family Social Media Safety

What information should you avoid sharing on social media?

Information to avoid publicly sharing on social media includes sensitive personal or financial details, your home address, full birth date, real-time location, travel plans, personal documents, and private information about other family members.

Is it safe to post vacation photos on social media?

Vacation photos can be shared more privately by waiting until you return home and considering who can see the post. Posting your location or travel dates in real time can reveal when you're away and information about your whereabouts.

What information should children and teens avoid sharing online?

Children and teens should avoid publicly sharing personal information such as their full name, address, birth date, school, sports teams, passwords, and real-time location. Parents should regularly discuss safe posting habits and privacy with children who use online platforms.

What is a family social media plan?

A family social media plan is a set of shared expectations for how household members use social media, protect personal information, respect one another's privacy, and respond to uncomfortable or suspicious online situations. Family plans should include parents as well as children and can be updated as needs change.

Should you ask permission before posting photos of family members?

Asking permission before posting photos or videos of family members helps respect their privacy and gives them a say in what information about them becomes part of their online presence.

Help Protect Your Family’s Privacy on Social Media

Knowing what not to share on social media doesn't mean your family has to stop posting, connecting, or enjoying the platforms you use. It means making thoughtful choices about which information belongs online, who should see it, and when you should ask someone else before sharing on their behalf.

Start with a simple family conversation. Decide which details your household will keep private, set expectations around photos and location sharing, and revisit the discussion as your family's online habits change.

Good habits can reduce your exposure, but problems can still happen. Florida Peninsula Insurance Company offers social media protection<link to brochure when it’s up on the FPI site> to help eligible policyholders monitor social media accounts, receive alerts about suspicious activity, and access support when covered issues arise. To learn more or add social media protection to your homeowners policy, contact your agent. If you're not currently insured by Florida Peninsula, get a quote to explore homeowners coverage and available protection options.

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