In the era of digital communities, more and more elders are beginning to use smartphones and SNS (social networking sites) to record their lives and stay in touch with their families. A 60-year-old Japanese grandmother could not help but put her young granddaughter in danger of being exposed online because of an unintentional "sharing". She also angered her eldest son and daughter-in-law, and almost lost their family relationship because of it.
According to Japanese media reports, 65-year-old Akemi Kagaya lives with her husband in the suburbs of Tokyo, and her 35-year-old eldest son lives in Yokohama with his wife of the same age and their 5-year-old daughter Miyu. It only takes 40 minutes to drive from Akemi’s home. The two families have a good relationship. The eldest son and his wife take their granddaughter back to her parents' home once a month, and they often communicate via LINE.
When their granddaughter was born, their eldest son and his wife gave Mingmei a smartphone as a gift. They said it would allow her to use LINE, allowing her to better communicate with friends and share daily photos of her granddaughter. Although the phone bill increased by about 5,000 yen (approximately NT$1,000) per month, Mingmei laughed and said that it was nothing if she could see her granddaughter's photos.
"Inadvertent Mistakes" at Sports GamesOne autumn, Mingmei and her husband were invited to attend the kindergarten sports meeting of her granddaughter Miyu. She took photos with her mobile phone and happily recorded every moment of her granddaughter. She first posted the photo to her family's LINE group, and because she was so happy, she couldn't help but post it on SNS as well.
Not long after, a friend sent a message reminding: "Your granddaughter's photo was uploaded? Are you sure there is no problem? Some strange people will use the photo indiscriminately, so be careful." Mingmei only thought her friend was jealous at the moment, but didn't take it to heart.
A few days later, my daughter-in-law called and asked: "Mom, why did Miyu's photo appear on SNS? There are other children in the photo! The kindergarten had previously reminded not to publish photos that can identify your identity." Then his son also interjected: "You can't open an account with your real name. Right? Kindergarten is also recognized in this way, it’s too exaggerated!
Mingmei was full of grievances and retorted that she had not received any notice from the park. She also said, "But aren't you all happy in LINE?" Her daughter-in-law responded that it was shared within the family and asked if it was passed on to others. Mingmei said honestly, "Yes, my friends all say my granddaughter is very cute." This sentence made her daughter-in-law explode: "This is very dangerous! It may expose the child to criminals! Please don't take any more photos in the future, and please delete all photos!"
As a result, all family albums were deleted. At the moment, Mingmei still didn't understand where she went wrong. It wasn't until a few days later that she slowly realized the seriousness of the matter. I still feel quite aggrieved and regretful: "I really didn't mean any harm, I was just too happy…… But now I know that it was too rash."
Popular use and risks of SNSIn recent years, many elders have also learned to use smart phones and social software, but the risks hidden behind SNS cannot be ignored. After this mistake, Mingmei lost her original happy family life, almost lost contact with her son and his family, and even had no dialogue in the LINE group.
A friend who had warned her at the beginning explained to her again that SNS photos may leak personal information and be used for fraud or malicious purposes; they may also infringe on other people's portrait rights and privacy rights.
Mingmei reflected deeply after hearing this. A few days later, the couple sincerely apologized to the eldest son’s family and worked together to formulate rules for the future use of smartphones and SNS. The daughter-in-law softened her attitude and admitted that she did not explain clearly enough at the beginning. Nowadays, communication between families is gradually restored, and this "SNS storm" has also become an opportunity for each other to understand each other better.