By Kim Seidel

With family and friends on the East Coast, Aaron Blank of Seattle, Wash., began posting photos and updates on Facebook and Twitter soon after his baby daughter was born this summer. Blank's network of 700-plus loved ones enjoyed a snapshot of the infant on Facebook, sharing the moment right after birth with the proud new parents. Every night Blank's wife, Lacey, stayed in the hospital, they uploaded photos of those first days with their newborn to Facebook.

"Facebook and Twitter are both incredible tools for sharing such a genuinely beautiful experience as childbirth," says Kelly Olexa, a social media strategist in Chicago. "The opportunity parents have to share this amazing time with friends and family through the Internet is tremendous."

Starting a Facebook Page for Baby

Facebook is a wonderful tool to share baby news for myriad reasons. "I often describe it as an ever-changing bulletin board of life," says Olexa. "Its popularity means that virtually everyone you know is likely using the platform and is comfortable with the interface. This accessibility is a huge convenience because anyone of any age, at any time, from any place can log in and share in your experience without interrupting your daily life. So you can share, yet maintain your privacy and sanity at the same time. Priceless!"

Olexa shares the following tips to get you started on Facebook for your baby:

1. Point of View: First, decide what point of view the Facebook page will represent. Will this be the parent(s) telling family and friends about the baby? Or will this be solely from the point of view of the child. "Obviously, if you plan to represent the child's point of view, you'll need to be comfortable using your imagination, but you will also want to stay consistent," Olexa says. "Switching 'roles' even on a Facebook page could inevitably damage the intended effect."

Chris Elliott and his wife, Kristen, of Seattle, Wash., write their son Zak's Facebook and Twitter entries from the child's perspective. "We speak from his voice, which makes it fun for people to read, and fun for us to write," says Elliott.

2. Timing: Along with determining the point of view, timing is important to the success of your baby's Facebook page. Consider starting your Facebook page sooner than later. "Think about this, and decide what your comfort factor is, and then get the page up and running as soon as possible," Olexa says.

Make sure that you update everyone who "must know" – immediate family members and best friends – that you are pregnant before posting the news on your Facebook page, Blank says. "I got some flack for not telling my brother before I posted it online," he says.

3. Consistency: "Your friends and family want to share in this experience more than you know, and a Facebook page will allow you to do this," Olexa says. "But, if you are going to do this, do it well, and that means maintain consistency. Post updates, pictures, videos and share them regularly.

"The worst thing anyone can do is create a Facebook page and share updates sporadically," says Olexa. "And with such a special time of your lives, why not commit to sharing everything you can?"

Elliott created a Facebook page for his baby son, as well as Twitters and blogs about him. Elliott enjoys sharing stories, experiences, videos and pictures online for his friends and family to see no matter where they are 24/7. He discovered that people actually get annoyed when he doesn't update those networks regularly. "It's really amazing to watch people react to my son's new photos on Facebook," Elliott says. "Even the relatives that we see all the time are checking the Facebook, Twitter and blog because they don't want to miss a thing."

4. Privacy: "Think very carefully about whom you want to include in your 'inner circle' on Facebook," Olexa says. "I would highly recommend that you keep this Facebook page for a new baby private and only allow invited friends/family/colleagues to become a member. It is difficult to think about the idea that there are dangers present, especially when it comes to the subject of your child, but the dangers are real and should not be ignored. Do not allow access to your story and your child's identity to anyone you don't trust completely."

Twitter the Baby

Many parents who create a Facebook page for their baby will Twitter as well. Twitter can be described as "micro-blogging" – the opportunity to share brief (140 characters or less) updates about the life of your child, Olexa says.

Keep in mind that Twitter is shared with anyone and everyone. "The very nature of this more 'public' interface can be a pro or con, depending on your situation," Olexa says. With a baby, there are more security risks to consider, which may be a negative for some parents.

"However, there are many families that prefer the more public accessibility and ease of use, in which case this same scenario presents a 'pro,'" Olexa says. "It is possible to keep updates private on Twitter, but this can be very limiting."

Elliott goes through his contact list on Twitter nearly every day and blocks those he deems unsafe or suspicious. Despite the extra effort to ensure privacy, he enjoys the ability to link Twitter and Facebook together. "This way you can update the Twitter status, and it automatically changes the Facebook status," Elliott says.

Facebook and Twitter Cons and Safety Issues

The big con for dealing with social networking is time, Elliott says. "I'm always asked, 'When do you find time to do this stuff?' Well, it's not easy," he says. "But instead of writing things down in a baby book and forgetting details, I can live in the moment and share experiences quickly with others."

Every family is different, with varying comfort levels of sharing personal information on Facebook and Twitter.

Awareness is key to keeping your information private on Facebook and Twitter. Follow the protective options that are offered with those tools, Olexa says. "As long as you are putting security measures in place from the start and monitoring who has access, I would suggest sharing as much of this experience as you feel you can share," Olexa says

Olexa advises not to share any addresses and phone numbers, including addresses of doctor's offices, hospitals and childcare providers. Instead, focus more on those special times about your baby and avoid specific details such locations. Elliott is careful about not showing off too much in pictures and sharing too much personal information. "Be careful about what you post as it can be viewed by anyone," Elliott says. "I'm cautious about giving away too much detail about where we hang out on a regular basis or something that might cause us harm somewhere down the line. I'm not an extremist about this, but we do take caution."

Getting Creative with Facebook

Blank had fun posting "guess which baby is the new baby" comparison of photos on his Facebook page. "I have a 3-year-old, and we all thought that our new baby looks a lot like the first one did," he says. "So I posted a side-by-side comparison so that our friends and family can take part in the action."

Incorporate a lot of pictures and videos of your baby. "We are all visual creatures, and the more visual content you can share, the better," Olexa says. "No one will get bored with the experience, so share as much as you can. You will regret more later what you didn't document than what you did. Trust me!"

Elliott loves using Facebook to capture those precious little moments that are often forgotten about. "Use Facebook for those special moments and leave the bigger, longer stories for the blog," Elliott says.

He recommends linking Facebook and Twitter and then using Twitter applications, like TweetDeck on the PC and iPhone, to easily update your baby's world. "It's super easy this way," Elliott says. "Also, take as many pictures as you can and share often. People will love you for this, especially those relatives and friends who can be there for those many 'firsts' in baby's life."

Source: Pregnancytoday.com