Well, this study certainly lays waste to the concept that you can control your own online identity and presence. With all those silly parents proudly posting photos of their kids . . .!
Anyway, this AVG study is pretty interesting.
Digital Birth: Welcome to the Online World
AVG Study Finds a Quarter of Children Have Online Births Before Their Actual Birth Dates
Some soundbites:
“According to the research, the average digital birth of children happens at around six months with a third (33%) of children’s photos and information posted online within weeks of being born. In the UK, 37 percent of newborns have an online life from birth, whereas in Australia and New Zealand the figure is 41 percent.”
“In the US, 92 percent of children have an online presence by the time they are two compared to 73 percent of children in the EU5.”
“Almost a quarter (23%) of children begin their digital lives when parents upload their prenatal sonogram scans to the Internet. This figure is higher in the US, where 34 percent have posted sonograms online, while in Canada the figure is even higher at 37 percent. Fewer parents share sonograms of their children in France (13%), Italy (14%) and Germany (15%). Likewise only 14 percent of parents share these online in Japan.”
“Seven percent of babies and toddlers have an email address created for them by their parents, and five percent have a social network profile.”
“Digital Birth” – By Age 2, 92% of Kids Have an “Online Record”
October 7, 2010 by John Battelle
Read more: http://battellemedia.com/archives/2010/10/digital_birth_-_by_age_2_92_of_kids_have_an_online_record.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JohnBattellesSearchblog+%28John+Battelle%27s+Searchblog%29#ixzz11hs0bmcm
92% of U.S. Toddlers Have Online Presence
I once had a great discussion with a wonderful children’s librarian who said to me, “I read stories to toddlers, Stephen, why would I need a Facebook page?” I replied that the toddlers couldn’t drive themselves to the library and marketing storytime to the mothers via social websites might work well. She tried and was successful. Now I know that the little rugrats have their own presence too!
Stephen (and yes, I have the odd kid (my own odd kids) picture online!)

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