By using deceiving clickbait titles and posting non-consensual photos and videos of their children, famous YouTubers and TikTokers are profiting off of their children’s looks, misfortunes and everyday struggles.
We’ve all seen those “picture perfect” influencer families that appear to be living the dream in their $10 million Los Angeles home where they are driving a new car every other weekend and going on some crazy vacation on the other.
The Labrant Family, Roman Atwood Vlogs and The ACE Family are just a few examples of the plethora of YouTube families who capitalize off of being an “everyday” family who enjoys sharing their life.
However, in the process of that, these parents are sharing clips of their children being potty trained, having meltdowns, being punished and will even film if their child gets sick or injured and film the emergency room trip.
The Labrant Family, who has 13.2 million subscribers on YouTube, first gained a significant amount of their success from sharing their daughter, Everleigh who is 9 years old. The family showcased her dance competitions from when she was as young as 3 year old.
Since Savannah Labrant married Cole Labrant, in 2017, they have had two children of their own and are expecting their third.
The family has filmed pregnancy announcements, gender reveals, doctor’s appointments and the births of their children. All videos of which are some of their most viewed.
These kids are so young and have no say in how much of their lives are being put out there for literally millions of people to see.
Once these kids get older and transition into middle and high school, who knows how other students are going to treat them because they have videos of them having temper tantrums from when they were three.
According to Naibuzz.com, Cole and Savannah Labrant have a combined net worth of $17 million from their brand deals, and YouTube and social media presence.
Other creators have used platforms such as TikTok to display their family lifestyles.
Since August, TikToker Maia Knight has gained a rapid following on her account where she shows her two twin daughters, Violet and Scout.
Knight has been open about being a single mother whose baby’s father has chosen not to be involved following the unplanned pregnancy.
While Knight is brave for taking on the challenge of raising two girls on her own, she has shared her kids in such a way that her fans are obsessed with her two girls and get mad at Knight for going more than a few hours without posting a video of her twins.
Knights comment section is filled with a combination of people mom-shaming her and telling all she is doing wrong (i.e. saying it’s bad she takes a night off to go out and lets her kids stay with their grandma, criticizing the sleep habits she forming in her children or giving their unsolicited opinion on “just how bad it is to be using formula,” if not criticisms, it is complete strangers giving nicknames to her 10-month-olds such as “Scotch & Vodka.”
There are some real creeps in her comment section too who constantly need updates of these babies and who have a dependence on seeing videos of these random kids. Since her TikTok blew up, Knight has collected over 7.8 million followers with a net worth of over $1 million according to Biography Gist.
While these two very well-known families have made questionable choices on how they post their children on the internet, some of the lesser-known creators are much worse.
Whether it’s Myka Stauffer who openly shared her adoption journey of a little boy from China with special needs, and then decided to “rehome” her child after realizing she wasn’t equipped to handle the language barrier and some of his behavioral needs.
Another great example is JessFam who has gained her following from sharing how she is only 29 with seven children from three different men.
A fan favorite is 8passengers, the Mormon family who has shared how they didn’t give their two youngest children (8 and 6 years old) Christmas presents this past year because they are ungrateful.
8passengers also shared how they took away their oldest son’s bed for seven months, leaving him to sleep on a beanbag chair because of a harmless prank he played on his younger brother.