The Ethics of Mommy Bloggers
Picture this: every single home video and photo your parents took when you were growing up has been posted for thousands - no, millions - of people to see. Sounds like a nightmare, right?
As social media has gone from a social networking site on clunky computers to fancy, high-speed programs right in the palms of our hands, a phenomenon of family influencers has emerged. While this trend isn’t conformed to just heterosexual couples, it is definitely more prevalent among them– and the mothers are usually the ones championing the effort, aptly dubbed “mommy bloggers.”
Their social media accounts are filled with sponsored posts, with their children as the models. Sometimes, they even create Instagram accounts for their babies and toddlers, and even creepier, will write the captions as if they are their child. Of course, they’re making shitloads of money that (hopefully) can go to their kids’ college funds– if they aren’t too traumatized to go by then.
It is important to make the distinction between people who are famous with children and people who are famous because of their children. It’s not hard to see that profiting off of the exploitation of your kid is, suffice it to say, not cool. For celebrities that have already been in the limelight, the circumstances around posting are a little different - they aren’t trying to attract followers through the use of their child. Of course, the argument can be made that these kids can’t consent and should not be thrust into the spotlight through social media at a young age.
Influencers and celebrities all deal with this conundrum differently - TikTok star Hawk (@hawkhatesyou on Instagram) doesn’t post anything with her daughter’s face in it, and only some videos feature her voice or the back of her head. Hawk has an Only Fans where she posts adult content and regularly gets some of the most vile, hateful comments, so it is key that her kid’s identity is protected for her safety. This is a great example of how to both share your family with the people who support you while keeping the best interests of the child at heart.
The worlds of these mommy bloggers/YouTube families can be dark, too. The Ace Family, one of the most (in)famous examples, as Austin McBroom has been accused of cheating on his wife Catherine multiple times. James and Myka Stuaffer are another infamous example, having given away their adopted son with autism. “I didn’t adopt a little boy to share these things publicly,” Myka said in the video the couple posted to explain the situation. Maybe so, but she still made money posting videos of Huxley, the boy. “Rehoming” him undoubtedly caused unneeded emotional trauma and it was extremely ignorant of the family to adopt him in the first place. Myka Stauffer hasn’t posted on her Instagram since June of 2020, so clearly the incident (rightfully) ended her social media career.
A lot of people feel uncomfortable when they see the accounts of mommy bloggers, with their super-exposed photo editing and too-perfect lives. But, these people have careers for a reason - millions across the world are finding themselves invested in these families. Since so many in our generation are familiar with the feeling of an embarrassing childhood snapshot being posted on our mom’s Facebook, you’d think we can stop this family vlogging trend and give kids their privacy back when it’s our turn. More likely, the appeal of social media fame may be too tempting for new parents and we’ll probably continue to see the rise of the mommy blogger.