8 Things You Need to Know About Kidfluencers

“Heyyy! Come get ready with me.” The cheery voice no longer belongs to a 20-year-old but rather to an 8-year-old on some social media account. Do you expect to wake up from this nightmare? Unfortunate for us, it is our reality, no matter how dystopian. 

Children today are turning into influencers, gathering millions of followers, and becoming a commodity for parents. But what lures beneath these happy-go-merry accounts, and where did they come from in the first place? Continue reading to find out. 

1. Kids Are Becoming the New Influencers

When we were young, who did we use to idealize? Probably a famous actor or singer that we came across on our TVs. Now, with 40% of our 8-12-year-olds on social media despite strict age restrictions, priorities have shifted. Children of the present day look up to the influencers they come across, dreaming of even becoming one of them. 

What started as a mere infatuation over time has devolved into a culture of mini-content creators. Kids, who were primarily viewers only, began partaking in dance challenges, engaging in vlogging, and more.

2. Parents Are Running Their Children’s Accounts

But evidently, two and two do not add together, because why would kidfluencers be allowed on these apps if they do not meet the age limits? Well, the catch is that parents tend to create and run accounts for their children instead, to evade restrictions. 

Behind the scenes, they not only manage but also decide the kind of content published on the kids’ pages. So, the next time you find a kid doing trends with a pristine account, know that it is parent-managed. By doing so, they are essentially complying with the rules while doing what they love.

3. The Money Is Real, and So Is the Pressure

Like all other influencers we see on social media, kidfluencers also bring in real income through ads and sponsorships. Those with one million or more followers can bring in as much as $10,000 or more per sponsored post. 

But the money comes with an added pressure and responsibility that kids are not emotionally developed enough to handle. Since most parents also have to step up to help with taxes, deals, scheduling, and other tasks, the juggle can take a toll on them. 

Not only that, but in situations like these, exploitation of the child’s earnings is not unheard of. Parents can decide against creating a separate account for the child and just use the money to keep their circle going. 

4. Privacy Disappears Fast

When a child’s life is out there for all to see, privacy can vanish quickly, too. Many kidfluencers tend to have tours of their houses and personal details for total strangers to see. If an individual knows too much, they can, therefore, easily target the child for cyberbullying and predation. 

Some parents who are letting the kid run the show might not even catch on to it until it is too late. That is not all, kids can also be exploited due to a lack of normal child-labor protection laws. 

For example, to get the most out of the child, parents or managers, for that matter, can push the child to produce content against their will or at an unsustainable rate. This constant pressure to perform due to their accounts garnering attention can easily steal their childhood from them.

5. The Internet Never Forgets

Social media posts do not work conventionally. Posts a child uploads on a public account as a kidfluencer can easily be saved and shared for others to see without parents having control over them. 

So, a content posted once might follow them for years to come. Therefore, it is reiterated by multiple experts that parents should be very mindful of what they post or let their child post on the account. Remember, deletion does not entail that all of the content’s copies have been permanently erased. They can still come back to haunt the child due to the digital footprint.

6. Ads Disguised as Playtime

Advertisers tend to gravitate towards kidfluencers for promotions of toys, games, etc., due to other parents and kids consuming their content. Most of the time, the unboxing channels you come across are reviewing new toys and products that are paid for to highlight them. 

Then come the oblivious children who look up to these kidfluencers as friends and push their parents to get them exactly what they are reviewing. The result? An advertisement wrapped up as a peer recommendation helps both the brands and kidfluencers make money.

7. Kidfluencers Exist in a Legal Gray Zone

Now, while the whole culture surrounding kidfluencers sounds legal, some aspects need serious consideration. Regardless of parents managing accounts for under-13 children, lawfulness is lacking in other areas. 

For starters, kidfluencers fall outside child-labor protections since they are working from home for their families and are not employed elsewhere. Not only that, but there are also no rules dictating schooling or work hours, making it hard to maintain legality. 

However, some countries, like France, are starting to catch up by creating laws regarding government permission requirements for children to earn money online. But it will be a while before proper bills and policies are approved; till then, kidfluencers will be operating in a legal gray zone.

8. The Trend Is Growing Faster Than the Rules

The trend, let us be honest, is not going to slow down anytime soon. All young minds in our vicinity have grown up more with a phone than an adult, and this will only escalate further with every passing year. 

Before you know it, more families around you will be willing to share their children’s lives digitally. Even if one day, the social media apps gaining traction today fail and old trends collect dust, the innate need of humans to share experiences will continue to be the driving force for kidfluencering. 

Regardless, while the authorities try to make sense of this, every parent must stay informed and help their child develop good online habits.

Now, we have another question: “How does one possibly instill healthy digital habits in a kid these days?” Well, when technology seems to work against you, simply turn it in your favor by using a child monitoring app that meets your needs.

Whether your child is a kidfluencer or the one consuming such content, you can use the Xnspy parental monitoring app to see their phone activity, specifically social media, in detail. Once installed in the phone, the app runs in stealth mode and offers real-time logs for the parent to see.

The recorded data is made accessible on Xnspy web dashboard. There, you can check their screen time, social media conversations for over 13 apps, comments, plus search history through keylogs, and content consumption in the screen records collected. 

Not only that, but you can use Xnspy to remotely lock their phone or take live screenshots of their screen. With all the data at hand, you can step in before things escalate on the internet. 

However, the data from Xnspy child monitoring app should not be used against them but rather for them. If you communicate properly and use the logs responsibly for discussions, your child will be less likely to turn to strangers for comfort.

In all honesty, they might want external validation, but they need an understanding parent more; let’s not take that away from them.