If you spend any time on social media, you’ve probably come across an influencer. That’s someone who leverages their popularity online for financial gain, through things like brand deals and advertisements.
But what happens when a parent makes their child an influencer, or incorporates them without their consent in paid social media posts? Some children can rake in hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars annually. An annual Forbes analysis of the top 10 earners on YouTube consistently ranks kid-forward accounts among the highest paid.
“Sharenting” can take on many forms. One form is family vlogging, where parents document their family life – often including videos and photos of their children – and share it on social media sites like YouTube and TikTok. Another form of sharenting is when a parent manages a social media account on behalf of their child and uses the account’s popularity for financial gain. This practice is called “influencing.”
Most social media platforms – such as Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat – do not allow children under 13 years old to use their sites.
As sharenting faces a reckoning, how might children’s digital privacy rights evolve?
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