The Do’s and Dont’s of social media for egg donors has become an interesting topic over the last year. Sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat make it easy to share our lives with the world in just a few seconds.

It is more than likely, that you are aware we are surrounded by a generation of digital natives. Millennials are experiencing more of their lives online than any generation before — and the statistics don’t lie.

• 4% of Millennial’s, 77.5% of Generation X, and 48.2% of Baby Boomers are active social media users (Emarketer, 2019)
• Roughly two-thirds of U.S. adults (68%) now report that they are Facebook users (Pewinternet, 2018)
• Daily active Instagram Stories users have increased from 150 million in January 2017 to 500 million in January 2019 (Statista, 2019).

Social media has changed the way we live our lives. But how egg donors are using social media is a much more nuanced debate than what statistics say on the surface.

Do’s and Dont’s to Consider on Social Media

DO use extra caution. Everything you post stays online indefinitely and at any time — can be reposted, screenshotted, reshared, retweeted, reproduced, replicated… you get the idea! You can’t delete it once it’s out there.

DONT hit send without considering all parties. Remember, egg donation involves you, the intended parents and in the end — a child. Everyone is at risk of being misunderstood — even more so with social media. Think about your message from every perspective.

DO think about other egg donors. Let’s face it! Everything you share via social media is an opportunity for others to define who you are. But it is also an opportunity to represent other women like you.  Ask yourself, if someone wanted to know what it’s like to be an egg donor or participate in an egg donor journey, how would you shape their opinion about egg donation?