When surprising your kids goes horribly awry

Parents have long surprised their kids with a family vacation.

However, the practice of parents recording their kids’ reactions – and then sharing them online – is a unique phenomenon of the social media age.

In the days after Christmas, you may have seen some of these videos on your social media feeds. In fact, a YouTube search for “surprise trip for kids” yields millions of videos.

But for every excited kid, there’s one who’s crying, screaming or simply perplexed.

As a consumer sociologist, I study how technology provides new ways to meet people’s needs, and how families navigate relationships through social media. Read more...