Examining the controversy of family influencers and children’s well-being through pediatric psychology

In the past year, popular “momfluencer” Ruby Franke made major headlines for her arrest and subsequent sentencing to four charges of aggravated child abuse (Bansinath, 2024). The abuse—including denial of food and water, suffocation, and harsh physical discipline—was an escalation from her typical, already strict, disciplinary tactics shown on her YouTube channel, “8Passengers”. This story bears an uncanny similarity to the 2019 story of Machelle Hobson and her YouTube channel “Fantastic Adventures” (Mettler, 2010) and 2017 story of Mike and Heather Martin and their YouTube channel, “DaddyOFive” (FeedSpot, 2024; Hajjaji, 2021). With Ruby Franke’s story joining the group in 2023, more and more light is being shed on the relatively new phenomenon of “family influencers” and the potential dangers lurking behind the scenes.

The Controversy of Family Influencers

The term “family influencer” refers to families documenting their lives through video blogs and posts on social media platforms (Miller, 2022). The content can range from the minutia (e.g., making lunch, chatting at the kitchen table, walking around the block) to major announcements (e.g., pregnancy, gender reveals, moves) to discipline and behavior management (e.g., gentle parenting, coping skills) and to marketing or product reviews (Hajjaji, 2021; Luscombe, 2017). For many family influencers, social media is turning into a reliable source of income (Bradley, 2022; Lieber, 2018; Luscombe, 2017; Scipioni, 2021), thus incentivizing continued posts tailored to specific audiences and goals. As a result, parents are sharing some of their children’s most intimate details publicly as a form of profit and wealth generation.

Understandably, this concept is controversial and sparks concerns from a range of professionals: legal, medical, psychological, and more (Abrams, 2020; Zervas, 2024). As an example, Abrams (2020) provides an excellent legal perspective on this issue, emphasizing concern surrounding child rights to privacy, child labor laws, and prevention of child exploitation. Alternatively, many family influencers are praised and highly regarded due to their shared expertise in topics like family travel, home and lifestyle, special needs advocacy, and parenting expertise (Nettesheim, 2024). Despite the aforementioned concerns, as evidenced by the number of followers and general public consensus, many social media users appear to be benefiting from and approving of the content. As pediatric psychologists with expertise in parenting dynamics, pediatric health behavior, and trauma, the objective of the present article is to both acknowledge the complexity of this issue and share professional insights regarding parenting in a world inundated with technological and media influences.

There are many aspects of family influencer trends that can be beneficial to parents if approached appropriately. Indeed, parents often benefit from peer support and a sense of community when faced with challenges that can otherwise feel very isolating and stigmatizing. For example, many parents facing issues of infertility or challenges in postpartum recovery report feelings of isolation or shame; these feelings can be improved by talking with people who share similar experiences, exchanging resources, and challenging thoughts of hopelessness (Evans et al., 2012). Representation of diverse family structures by family influencers can also promote inclusion and community for individuals with blended, multicultural, multiracial, LGBTQ+, and many other family systems. This not only provides support for individuals identifying with these types of family structures but also allows for normalization and increased awareness of diverse family structures. Family influencers can also provide tools for advocacy and accommodations for individuals with a variety of complex needs including learning differences, chronic illness, and mental health concerns. Further, content can include tips and tricks for common parenting challenges such as picky eating, sibling conflict, family sleep schedules, fitting in exercise and physical activity, and traveling with young children. Content can also feature creative problem-solving for family-friendly recipes and activities, DIY projects, school projects, and holidays.

Alongside these potential benefits, there are many complicating factors to consider when consuming or recommending social media content. While these resources can be helpful for parents, they expose the children featured in the videos and endanger their right to privacy (Abrams, 2020). Additionally, children with access to family influencer content may misinterpret the materials, view unintentionally triggering content, or be exposed to harmful comments in a way that negatively impacts mental health (McLellan et al., 2022). Family influencers also do not have the same structures supporting accountability as compared to other information sources and may falsely represent themselves as “experts” in certain areas or popularize misinformation (Harff et al., 2022). Information and content presented by family influencers can also lead to self-comparisons made by individuals consuming the content and feelings of inadequacy or failure—although the content is only a snapshot of these influencer’s lives and is often highly edited or manipulated.

Proceed with a Curious but Cautious Perspective

As social media continues to grow and expand in society, family influencers will likely continue to grow in reach and impact. As demonstrated, there are real dangers and concerns with parenting via social media; yet, there are also unique benefits that can be acknowledged and supported. As a result, we emphasize the importance of proceeding with a curious but cautious perspective—investigate and test the waters prior to jumping straight in. Most importantly, social media is simply one outlet amidst many outlets and resources available to families searching for and needing support in their parenting journey. In a world so integrated with social media networking, that can often be forgotten. Families are also encouraged to reach out to their primary care providers, local psychologists and advocacy groups, or schools for additional support.

References

Abrams, R. C. (2023). Family influencing in the best interests of the child. Chicago Journal of International Law, 2(2), 97-113.

Bansinath, B. (2024). What we know about the mommy vlogger accused of child abuse. The Cut. https://www.thecut.com/article/ruby-franke-utah-mommy-vlogger-pleads-guilty-to-child-abuse.html

Bradley, S. (2024, Jan. 16). How much money Instagram influencers make. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/how-do-instagram-influencers-make-money

Evans, M., Donelle, L., & Hume-Loveland, L. (2012). Social support and online postpartum depression discussion groups: A content analysis. Patient Education and Counseling, 87(3), 405-410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2011.09.011

FeedSpot (2024, Apr. 8). Top 80 Influencers in 2024. FeedSpot. https://influencers.feedspot.com/family_instagram_influencers/

Hajjaji, D. (2021, Oct. 4). YouTube lets parents exploit their kids for clicks. Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/youtube-lets-lawless-lucrative-sharenting-industry-put-kids-mercy-internet-1635112

Harff, D., Bollen, C., & Schmuck, D. (2022). Responses to social media influencers’ misinformation about COVID-19: A pre-registered multiple-exposure experiment. Media Psychology, 25(6), 831–850. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2022.2080711

Lieber, C. (2018, Nov. 28). How and why do influencers make so much money? The head of an influencer agency explains. Vox. https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2018/11/28/18116875/influencer-marketing-social-media-engagement-instagram-youtube

Luscaombe, B. (2017, May. 18). The YouTube parents who are turning family moments into big bucks. Time. https://time.com/4783215/growing-up-in-public/

McLellan, A., Schmidt-Waselenchuk, K., Duerksen, K., & Woodin, E. (2022). Talking back to mental health stigma: An exploration of YouTube comments on anti-stigma videos. Computers in Human Behavior, 131, 107214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107214

Mettler, K. (2019, Nov. 11). This ‘YouTube Mom’ was accused of torturing the show’s stars—her own kids. She died before standing trial. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/crime-law/2019/11/13/popular-youtube-mom-who-was-charged-with-child-abuse-has-died/

Miller, D. R. (2022). YouTube family channels: The new frontier of child labor. The Projector, 22(1), 1-9.

Nettesheim, P. (2024, Feb. 27). Discover how to find family influencers: A comprehensive guide to identifying top influencers in the family industry. Influencer Hero. https://www.influencer-hero.com/blogs/discover-how-to-find-family-influencers-a-comprehensive-guide-to-identifying-top-influencers-in-the-family-industry

Scipioni, J. (2021, Apr. 30). Here’s how many social media followers you need to make $100,000. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/30/how-much-money-you-can-make-off-social-media-following-calculator.html

Zervas, I. (2024, Mar. 19). Profit without privacy: Family content creators and child influencers. Northeastern University Political Review. https://nupoliticalreview.org/2024/03/19/profit-without-privacy-family-content-creators-and-child-influencers/