I rarely post photos of my own kid on social media. Sometimes my kid is part of a photo someone else posts. I haven't minded, because there's no way to identify the kid. So it's like posting those photos that come with a frame... still anonymous in my mind.

However, I think you absolutely must say something. It will be awkward, but not rude.

I'm not sure what kind of events you're talking about. Sometimes I do things as part of a fairly small group. Like one time a bunch of moms I know arranged a trip to the Aquarium. In that situation, I'd go up to anyone I saw holding a camera or aiming a phone and say to them, "That kid over there is mine. My partner and I don't want pictures of her/him appearing on social media. Can you keep that in mind and try to keep him out of your photos?"

Sometimes I do things as part of a larger group. Like a baby-music concert. In that case, I'd be sure to arrive a bit early and tell the leader that I don't want anyone taking pictures of my kid, and ask if they want to address it or make space for me to say something before the event begins.

And finally, if I see a pic of my kid on social media, I'd contact the person who posted it and explain that I don't want pics of my kid online and for them to crop my kid out or remove the picture. I'm sure they will, but if they don't, just contact FB admin or whatnot and advise that you've asked for them to remove images of your child from their FB page but it's still up.

And most people have no idea you wouldn't enjoy seeing pics of your kid online. They think they are doing something nice for you. So start out with that positive attitude when you let them know that you do things differently.

I think starting out irritated will just get you frustrated as you handle this... and then you can accidentally cross into rude more easily!

"Whatever you say and however you go about it, the moms are going to act like there is something wrong with you or you think your kid is better than theirs or they'll get offended or something just as asinine. They'll tell you "Oh c'monnnn, it won't hurt" and some of everything to talk you into it. Some of them will do it anyway against your expressed wishes."

Sue, I think you're just wrong here.

I'm sorry you had some bad experiences, but honestly, as a basically decent human being, I have no problem respect someone else's wishes. And I don't think I'm the ONLY basically decent human being out there.

That being said, in this day and age, people share photos of their lives online. If you are part of their lives, you might in be in that photo. So be mature enough to express your wishes. If you were a vegetarian, you'd mention it when someone invites you for a meal, right? It's just common politeness to let people know about you.

And it's ridiculous to start off angry at people who are behaving absolutely normally. Yes, I get it, you have a different idea of normal. But communication means understanding each other. You want to hang with these moms - then talk to them and they will respect your differences. You don't want to hang with them - go all super-bitch about how rude they are and how dare they and so on.

I would respect some ones wishes of course. People do share their lives online commonly, not everyone. As long as you're reasonable. There was a woman I thought of as "wierd " grandma in my sons class. She didn't want her grand daughter photographed, fine, whatever. But little kids do often stand with in inches of each other. Myself and others may want to take a spontaneous picture of our kid doing some thing cute or new. The worst was when the Easter bunny came to visit the class.of course most of the kids go running and crowding around the Easter bunny, her grand daughter included. Of course, most moms are snapping pictures. "Wierd" grandma is saying repeatedly please please no pictures of (her grandkids name). Then of course everyone is reassuring her that her little precious will be cropped out. And she's going on and on about on line dangers. Saying "I know you're all going to put this on Facebook."

I see both sides. I have a BS who hates having his picture taken but it's difficult at family gatherings/events to NOT get him in the picture! It's kind of unfair that I have to miss getting family photos of things I want to capture because one person is camera shy. I don't purposfully take his picture and I no longer tag h on them but I'm not going to stop documenting my family events because he is there. It's hard to get a candid shot if you constantly have to rearrange people too so only the right ones are in the shot. I feel like compromises should be made as I did but he knows if it's a family event, moms got get camera out.

I Dont like pictures of myself taken from our friends. Most of my h friends wifes are vendictive and will take pictures of problem areas and make sure they blast it. I simply ask them to remove any pictures of me when it's private one on one conversation. When they try to get a group photo I simply say no thanks and remove myself. If they take offense them f them, you don't need that drama. Now as far as my step kid. The mom takes pictures of her kids and blasts them all together so if h wants a photo we take one but if I don't like the way I look I make sure it gets deleted