Anyone who’s spent even a bit of time on social media knows how overwhelming the amount of information there is. While you can definitely find some great sources, pieces of advice, and supportive people online, you also have to filter out the noise. Inevitably, you come across posts that are beyond bizarre, especially when it comes to parenting, a topic that seemingly everyone has an opinion about.
Our team at Bored Panda has collected some of the most unhinged, weird, and confusing posts ever shared in mom groups on the internet. While honesty is commendable, careless oversharing and opinions masquerading as facts can do a lot more harm than good, especially if any impressionable parents are reading your ideas. Scroll down to go down the online parenting group rabbit hole.
#1 She Posted Anonymously, She Knew What Would Happen
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#2 I'm Pretty Sure She Was Serious Based On Previous Posts
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#3 Sunscreen Causes Cancer, Y’all
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The simple fact is that following every single piece of advice you stumble across online, especially on social media, can be very harmful for you and your children.
You wouldn’t suddenly change your child’s diet or your entire parenting style just because you saw someone boast about how their approach is amazing and super trendy online. Similarly, you wouldn’t risk your kids’ health because you read someone’s unhinged tirade on social media.
#4 She Is Insane
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#5 My Mom Sends Me The Best Posts From Our Town’s Mom Group And Lots Of Them Are From Moms Who Are New To Canada And I’ve Been Thinking About This For Months
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#6 Moms Who Use Their Sons As Surrogate Husbands Are Vile
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You need to know how to filter out fact from fiction, recognize what bias looks like, and be very careful about who you listen to. What doesn’t help is that there are a lot of overly confident parents out there who have very loud opinions about, well, pretty much everything: from childcare and education to nutrition, health, and beyond.
#7 It's Called Happiness. I'm Guessing Pizza's The Only Thing That'll Give It To Them
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#8 The Comments Are Filled With Her Explaining The Science Behind It
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#9 Quality Quora Question
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Media literacy fundamentally revolves around looking at a source’s reliability and the information they share to determine whether the claims they make are trustworthy.
In short, it’s a way to critically evaluate any information you come across, whether you hear it on TV, read about it in the news, find it on your social media feed, or stumble across it in the online groups you’re part of.
#10 Nothing Like A Hearty Stick Of Butter To Round Out Baby’s Meal
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#11 Generational Trauma Personified. It’s Now Too Intimate For Your Daughter To Cut Your Husbands Hair
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#12 Mother Of The Year. Comments Were 90% Not On Her Side
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You can take a two-pronged approach to evaluating someone’s claims. First, you can double-check and cross-reference the ideas they share with other sources online. You want to see whether there’s any scientific logic or factual basis behind what someone’s writing or if they’re presenting their subjective opinion as objective fact.
The drawback is that many people are busy with work, studies, parenting, hobbies, fitness, chores, and (sometimes even) a social life, so it’s very time-consuming to check every little bit of info. To save time, you should evaluate a source’s reliability.
#13 A Giant Yikes On This One
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#14 It’s Gross, Karen. I’m Also Pretty Certain It’s Illegal To Feed Unsuspecting People Your Bodily Fluids
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#15 Depression Is A Phase
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The second thing you should consider before following parenting (or any other) tips you find online is to consider who is making these claims. Naturally, there are no ‘perfect’ sources as everyone makes mistakes from time to time. But that’s not to say that all sources are equal. Some will be far more objective and trustworthy than others.
#16 Excuse Me?
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#17 Imagine Needing Your 3 Year Old To Beg You To Go To The Doctor, Then Refusing Meds
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#18 Thats More Than 3 Pagents A Month If They Start When She Was Born! Of Course The Poor Thing Doesn't Want To Out Her Sippy Cup Down, She's A Baby
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You can look at a source’s track record to get a feel for them. What info have they shared before? Do they have a reputation for sharing reliable and factual information? Are they experts in the fields they’re talking about? Do they have a clear political or other agenda they’re trying to push? Do they make obvious grammar and style mistakes?
#19 Vaccinations Made My Daughter Gay
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#20 Why Even Go To The Doctor?
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#21 Mom Admits To Sending Her Son To School With No Shoes Or Clothes And Posts Them Completely Unrestrained In The Car
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Do they link to other sources on which they base their claims so you can look at them yourself? Do they make corrections when they realize they spread incorrect information? Are they transparent about having messed up?
NBCU Academy notes that news organizations aren’t perfect, but those that “care about the truth are going to correct it when they fall short.”
#22 You Ask Your Toddler To... What?
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#23 Would This Be A Major Red Flag To Anyone Else?
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#24 Posted In A Local Mom Group
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“Media literacy empowers us to be critical thinkers with the necessary skills to make better decisions in all aspects of our lives. The media we consume influences choices we make at work, at home, and throughout our society,” says Brooke Becker, media literacy librarian from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Libraries.
#25 From My Local Moms Group
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#26 This Must Be A Joke - Right? From A Local Mom Group Where I Am An Admin
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#27 Found In A Mom Group
Saw this poll in a mom group I am part of. Persephone is the only suitable name on that list and I’m sure some people would still have trouble pronouncing it.
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Some key questions to ask yourself when looking at a claim, according to the Center for Media Literacy, are who created the content or was paid to do so, what techniques they’re using to attract your attention and why, and how might someone else understand their message differently than you do.
You should also consider what values and points of view are represented and omitted in the message, as well as why the message is being sent at all. For example, is someone trying to sell you something or trying to influence you for their own benefit?
#28 This Isn’t The Flex You Think It Is
Truly hoping this is satire but it wasn’t posted anonymously and OP doesn’t usually post satire. Her posts are genuine. Yikes.
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#29 I'm Going To Need Them To Do A Live Demonstration
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#30 From My Vegan Parenting Group
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What’s your experience with online parenting groups, dear Pandas? From your perspective, are they more helpful, chaotic, or a mix of both? How do you personally evaluate whether a parent is sharing factual and important advice or spreading nonsense?
How do you filter out the noise online? We’d love to hear from you! If you have a spare moment, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. We’re always happy to read your opinions.
#31 "He's Never Choked"
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#32 She’s Joking... Right?
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#33 First It Was Formula Causing Autism Now Baby Needs To Be Detoxed After Drinking Formula. I Can’t Make This Up Y'all
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#34 "Words Are My Language" Yes That's What Language Is
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#35 Yes, There’s Live Fish In There. Confirmed In Her Comments. I Presume Her "Work From Home With 25% Travel" Is Her Essential Oils Conferences
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#36 I Don’t Know What An Appendix Does But I Do Know The Doctors That Are Trying To Save My Child Are Just Quacks
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#37 I’m Reasonably Certain It Wasn’t Just Those Reasons, Karen
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#38 Found This In A Facebook Mom Group
Translation: "Hi, I'm a toxic mom. How can I ensure my son will move out at age 18 and never speak to me again so I can die alone and sad wondering why he wants nothing to do with me?"
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#39 "My Kids Were Wrongfully Taken By CPS"
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#40 My Kid's Dentist Told Me Skipping Antibiotics Will Be Really Painful For Her, So I'd Like To Go Ahead And Do That
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#41 Y...yes?
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#42 Can You Imagine Waking Up One Day And Your Beard Is Just Gone
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#43 Need To Pee? Hand Your Baby To A Random Stranger In The Public Restroom
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#44 My Toddler Is Doing A Completely Normal Toddler Thing. What Does It Mean?
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#45 "Help, We've Tried Nothing And We're Out Of Ideas"
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#46 Wild Child Rearing, An 8 Year Old Nursing And Free Birthing
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#47 Maybe Just Let Your Child Grow On Their Own, You Know They Do That Right
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#48 This Made My Blood Boil
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#49 Refusing To Get Ultrasounds
They're getting educated in the comments, apart from a few people suggesting that they "listened to their gut".
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#50 "Pleasure-Based Birthing"
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#51 Oh, Phancy
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#52 "As I Have With All My Babies"
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#53 I Really Hope They Called DCFS
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#54 65 Lb 2 Year Old Is Healthy
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#55 My Child's Future Means Nothing To Me
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#56 Thank God All The Comments Were Telling Her Not To Do It
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#57 We’ve Tried Nothing And We’re All Out Of Ideas
Luckily, the comments agreed that maybe she could try parenting her kid.
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#58 Can't Imagine What This Poor Kid Had To Deal With Before Finally Being Able To Buy Their Own Hygiene Products
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#59 Are They Afraid To Tell Their Child The Word No?
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#60 Mom Telling People To Give Kids Double Or Triple Their Medications
I know full well that some of the people on their group will follow this blindly. So unsettling.
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#61 Please Dig The Poop Out Of My Kid's Diaper And Reuse It
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#62 Alternate Text: I Don’t Understand Taxes And My Kids Won’t, Either
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#63 Won't Somebody Think Of The Radio Waves
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#64 Can I Have A Used Garden Hose For My Home Birth?
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#65 Teachers Should Also Have To Wipe Children’s Behinds
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#66 More Estranged Bigots
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#67 At Least One Person In The Comments Had The Sense To Tell Her To Call A Doctor! This Is Too Much
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#68 I Won’t Respect My Daughter's Privacy. Well Lets Just Destroy Her Phone
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#69 I Got Crucified In My Local Mom Group For Suggesting This Woman Not Use Secret Apps And Just Have Open Dialogue With Her Child And Build Trust
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#70 Found This Gem In My Local Mom Group
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#71 Manipulation? I Don't Think So
Manipulation... This is a wish, a child's wish. This one really annoyed me.
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#72 I Don't Think She's Prepared To See What Goes On In His Room
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#73 Should I Give My Child This Prescribed Medicine Or Let Her Get Dehydrated Because My Husband Knows Better?
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#74 Sounds Like A Good Plan
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#75 This Idiot Is Literally Trying To Put Her Mother's Life In Jeopardy
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#76 Insane Parent On A Ninja Creami Recipe Page
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#77 The Local Facebook Moms Group Is Just Never Ending Trashy Fun
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#78 Ladies, Gentlemen, And Persons Of All Genders, I Present To You - My Local Mom Group
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#79 I’m Speechless
Poor kid. He needs to see a doctor, not a chiropractor. He could have bladder issues.
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#80 Hello, 911?
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#81 They Want To Take A Newborn To A Chiropractor?
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#82 It’s Almost As If Consuming Something That Hasn’t Been Pasteurized Is Risky For Those With A Weak Immune System
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#83 From A Homesteading Group
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#84 Imagine This Being Your Mom
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#85 In A Group For Expecting Mothers
They’re all so so so bad. Why can’t you just spell it Chloe.
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#86 The Perfect Solution To Crusty Infant Eyes? Colloidal Silver
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#87 My Infant Deserves A Spa Day
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#88 Her Husband's Child Is An "It" To Her
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#89 Put This Man On A List
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