The effect of social media addiction and online privacy awareness on parental behaviour

With technological advances, the frequency with which parents share images of their children on social media platforms has increased. However, this situation brings various issues to the fore, such as violations of children's privacy, the creation of a digital footprint and security risks. This study was conducted to examine the effect of parents' social media addiction and online privacy awareness on sharenting behaviour. This study, which has a descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational and quantitative design, was conducted with mothers and fathers living in the city centre of Afyonkarahisar. Stratified sampling was used in the study and 400 parents who met the inclusion criteria were included in the sample. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews using the Introductory Information Form, the Adult Social Media Addiction Scale, the Online Privacy Awareness Scale and the Sharenting Scale. In the analysis of the research data, SPSS 26.0 software was used, and descriptive statistics, the independent-samples t-test, the normality test, correlation analysis, one-way ANOVA and regression analysis were applied. The research findings indicate that social media addiction significantly increases sharenting behaviour. While online privacy awareness did not have a significant effect on sharenting behaviour, there was a negative relationship between social media addiction and privacy awareness. It was determined that demographic factors such as social media platform preference, gender, age, education, and marital status affect parents' digital behaviours. The results indicate that parents with high social media addiction share more content and are influenced by social approval and positive feedback in their sharing. These findings reveal that parents' digital awareness plays a critical role in protecting children's privacy. Accordingly, it is recommended that paediatric nurses and other professionals plan and implement training for parents on online privacy, sharenting and safe internet use.