photo credit: Natalia Favila Inacua
While scrolling on any social media, whether it’s Youtube, Tiktok, or even Instagram, it has become quite hard to avoid family vloggers: the stereotypical, seemingly ‘perfect’ families filming almost every step of raising their children on camera.
Most family influencers make similar content, and this usually consists of challenges, pranks, Q&A videos, vlogs, and other viral trends.
The vast majority of family influencers are extremely problematic, and their young children should not be exposed to the internet with all the negativity that comes with it. Several of these families post content that is extremely exploitative towards their kids and is an overall invasion of the privacy of their children.
The root of most of the issues that come with posting content of children on social media is the fact that they are unable to consent. And while the parents can give their consent, the children are likely to not understand what it truly means to their current lives and their futures.
A few channels get extra personal, filming their children in moments that should normally be kept private. These moments include their mistakes, their breakdowns or tantrums, and other moments that could create an embarrassing digital footprint for their children in the future.
An example of this type of oversharing content creator is ‘The LaBrant Fam’ on Youtube, an extremely popular channel with 15 million subscribers. The family consists of husband and wife Cole and Savannah LaBrant and their four children; Everleigh, Zealand, Posie, and Sunday.
Regarding the potential for cancer diagnosis for one of their children, the family made one of their most controversial videos. The LaBrants created a false impression in the minds of their viewers by titling the video “She got diagnosed with cancer (A documentary),” even though she had not received a diagnosis.
Using something like childhood cancer as clickbait is disgusting and extremely exploitative. Fans shared this opinion, and the family received tons of backlash.
Another questionable vlog the LaBrants created was a prank video where they told their daughter Everleigh that they would be giving her dog away. The video shows Everleigh hiding her face from the camera and crying as they explain why they are giving it away.
This video has since been deleted, but once posted online it will never truly go away. It will inevitably be accessible somehow if someone wants to find it, even when these children grow older.
The worst of the worst of family vloggers was named ‘8 Passengers’, starting in 2015 consisting of the now arrested mother Ruby Franke, her husband, and their six children. At the channel’s peak, it reached about two million followers.
Franke’s most criticized video highlighted her harsh parenting styles. In one video, she was threatening her sons they would ‘lose their privilege to eat dinner’ if they continued playing, and talking about how her 6-year-old daughter should have to go hungry after forgetting to bring her lunch to school.
In early 2023, one of Franke’s kids escaped home, malnourished and allegedly wounded. According to CBS News, to follow, Ruby Franke was arrested on four counts of aggravated child abuse.
This is just a few examples of the insane content that many of these families produce, but there have been several other instances of sketchy content produced about children. The world of family vlogging demands an examination of its impact on privacy and the well-being of individuals involved. It is extremely important to be conscious of the ethical considerations surrounding family vlogs.
