If you’re a parent who watched the Irish Data Protection Commission’s viral “Pause Before You Post” campaign about sharenting, you probably felt a chill run down your spine. It’s such a simple message, but it’s unnervingly clear. What we post about our kids today can follow them long into the future—their faces, their names, their milestones, living forever on a public stage they never chose.
The video shows a little girl walking in the mall with her parents, holding on to her mom’s hand. At every turn, strangers greet her by name, noting personal details about her life. Towards the end, a man downloads one of the photos from social media. “Every time you share their life online,” says the voice-over, “you risk sharing their personal data with the world. Pause before you post.”
For years, parents have posted updates with the best intentions: to celebrate, to share joy, and to keep family in the loop. What the ad does is shine a light on something parents rarely get to see in real-time: the digital footprints we unintentionally create for our children, long before they’re old enough to understand what a footprint even is.
At Tinybeans, we’ve spent a decade thinking about this exact tension. We’ve always believed that sharing your child’s story should bring people closer, not expose your child to a world they can’t yet comprehend. And we’ve seen how meaningful it is when parents choose connection without compromise. That’s why Tinybeans was built not as another social network, but as a private family album, lovingly updated and securely tucked away from the noise of the internet.
This is what we call digital nesting. The quiet, intentional act of creating a safe digital home for your child’s memories—just as you once prepared a nursery for their arrival. It’s a space designed for intimacy, not visibility. A place where grandparents can delight in first steps; where aunts and uncles can comment on messy spaghetti faces; where milestones can be celebrated without the watchful eyes of an algorithm or the permanence of a public platform.
The Irish DPC campaign is startling, but it’s also a reminder that parents aren’t powerless. You can choose where your child’s story lives. You can choose who sees it. You can choose to protect their future self while still inviting family and friends into the joy of watching them grow.
On Tinybeans, your child’s memories exist in a private, invitation-only space. No ads. No strangers. No scraping. No accidental digital legacy you can’t undo. Just the people you love, following the moments that matter most.
For parents who watched the video and felt their stomach drop, know that you don’t have to choose between sharing and staying safe. You can protect your child’s future while still celebrating their present.
We exist for anyone who watched that video and thought: There has to be a better way.
There is, and it’s been here all along—quiet, private, joyful, and built just for families.
