The next generation of influencers are here. And they’re less than 10 years old.

[Phys251]

The next generation of influencers are here. And they’re less than 10 years old.

A new wave of influencers from Gen Alpha — kids born between 2010 and 2024 — are building followings online for videos posted on their parent-run accounts.

www.nbcnews.com

I find this disturbing. Kids this young should not be social media influencers. They should be living life as kids--playing outdoors, doing homework, and spending time with friends.

 

[Jessie C]

The next generation of influencers are here. And they’re less than 10 years old.

A new wave of influencers from Gen Alpha — kids born between 2010 and 2024 — are building followings online for videos posted on their parent-run accounts.

www.nbcnews.com

I find this disturbing. Kids this young should not be social media influencers. They should be living life as kids--playing outdoors, doing homework, and spending time with friends.

Know what ? There are reasons why some species eat their young.....

 

[Ug make hammer]

The next generation of influencers are here. And they’re less than 10 years old.

A new wave of influencers from Gen Alpha — kids born between 2010 and 2024 — are building followings online for videos posted on their parent-run accounts.

www.nbcnews.com

I find this disturbing. Kids this young should not be social media influencers. They should be living life as kids--playing outdoors, doing homework, and spending time with friends.

I find it inspiring. Unless their parents are pushing them, they're only doing it because they enjoy it. At that age, the urge for power and influence is really just a form of play.

They may have the problems Judy Garland and Michael Jackson had, when they grow older and try to convert childhood popularity into an adult career. But that's really a problem of unreasonable expectations, or being pushed to succeed so parents or handlers can profit from their success.

Maybe we could take parents out of the equation, say by putting most of the child's earnings into a trust fund. It's not "working" which is the problem so much, as the premature responsibility of supporting someone else. If you really were concerned about children working, you wouldn't prescribe homework for them.

 

[Ug make hammer]

Know what ? There are reasons why some species eat their young.....

It's not malice, if that's what you're thinking. It's triggered by food shortage or sickness. The animal knows instinctively that this generation of young won't make it, so they eat their young to improve their own chance of survival. Ultimately their genes are better served by surviving to reproduce at some later time (when there is food or sickness has been beaten). Also note that they may eat only SOME of their young (the runts most likely) which improves the chances of the others surviving.

 

[Phys251]

I find it inspiring. Unless their parents are pushing them, they're only doing it because they enjoy it. At that age, the urge for power and influence is really just a form of play.

They may have the problems Judy Garland and Michael Jackson had, when they grow older and try to convert childhood popularity into an adult career. But that's really a problem of unreasonable expectations, or being pushed to succeed so parents or handlers can profit from their success.

Maybe we could take parents out of the equation, say by putting most of the child's earnings into a trust fund. It's not "working" which is the problem so much, as the premature responsibility of supporting someone else. If you really were concerned about children working, you wouldn't prescribe homework for them.

Inspiring? Think about what you're saying. These are little kids we're talking about.

 

[Helix]

The shows for kids on YouTube often boil down to toy commercials. My wife figured out a way to filter it, so it has gotten a bit better in the past few months. When I think about it, though, the shows for kids in the 80s were basically toy commercials, too.

 

[Jessie C]

It's not malice, if that's what you're thinking. It's triggered by food shortage or sickness. The animal knows instinctively that this generation of young won't make it, so they eat their young to improve their own chance of survival. Ultimately their genes are better served by surviving to reproduce at some later time (when there is food or sickness has been beaten). Also note that they may eat only SOME of their young (the runts most likely) which improves the chances of the others surviving.

To the first bolded, never! It's all about survival! And if you ever worked with "nuts" then you get it! Sorry, us medical folks aren't always delicate...but seriously, it's creepy for kids this young to have the time, freedom, and tech where with all to do this.And I sound like an old hag so I'm gonna shut up....

 

[fallenturtle]

I think the biggest concern is the person's mental health. Fame is toxic.

 

[Ug make hammer]

Inspiring? Think about what you're saying. These are little kids we're talking about.

So you're concerned about the influence that fame and fortune might have on their development?

Or are you resentful that even little kids can be more successful than you are ...

 

[Ug make hammer]

I think the biggest concern is the person's mental health. Fame is toxic.

Certainly fame is dangerous to mental health. The more undeserved the fame, the more dangerous it is. Child influencers will surely face some crisis where they question themselves and perhaps find themselves undeserving of the fame, but they should be able to deal with that.

Unless their parents or handlers have syphoned off and spent all the money they earned. If they still have millions of dollars at age 18 (or whatever younger age a court will grant their earnings to them) then they can employ a psych to help them through the transition to adulthood.

It's weird that so many people here are making victims of some of the most privileged people there are. I can't help thinking there is jealousy in it. Wouldn't it be great to be rich and famous and outshine your own parents, even before you hit high school? Have you forgotten the impotent rage of being dismissed as "just a child" or perhaps you were beaten down from such a young age, you never felt that at all.

 

[BirdinHand]

The next generation of influencers are here. And they’re less than 10 years old.

A new wave of influencers from Gen Alpha — kids born between 2010 and 2024 — are building followings online for videos posted on their parent-run accounts.

www.nbcnews.com

I find this disturbing. Kids this young should not be social media influencers. They should be living life as kids--playing outdoors, doing homework, and spending time with friends.

I’m not familiar with that app/platform….I will have to look into it.

Overall; I have very little concern for this though.

This “Honey Badger” generation has grown up with technology in their hands since toddler-hood.

My son does green screen videos of putting together his Lego sets. He wants a YouTube channel, but we haven’t had the time to develop one yet. He’s still working on content and also spends his free time looking at other channels and we talk about what works/doesn’t work. (It’s winter in NJ - there isn’t a lot of “outdoor” time . And I rather him be creating something than simply watching something that someone else created)

These are also kids that use smart touch screen white boards in their classrooms, have had laptops they do work on since 1st grade, etc. Texhnology to them is second nature and they’re DAMN good at utilizing it.

None of that means they don’t go outside and play, etc…they very much do.

And they’re growing up knowing that “influencers” are actors. That what you see on social media is “fake”…that it is a persona, an act.

I’d say they’re much better off that way than older generations who do not understand that.

If they can monetize a platform - good for them. Life is expensive and they have a head start at their bank accounts, college savings, etc for when they are adults.

 

[Mycroft]

I think marketing executives love these kids...and they are willing to make these kid's parents offers they can't refuse.

 

[RedMarsRepublic]

I think it's wrong for parents to push their kids into doing this just for money but if the kids are genuinely interested then I don't really see what the harm is.

 

[Lovebug]

“First up, my Bronzi and my Goldi drops,” she continues, working serums into her face with a makeup sponge.

That made me giggle. At that age my face didn't need anything worked into it.
I was more interested in climbing trees and playing with dolls. If we had tictoc and whatnot back in the day, things might have been different.

What gets me though are all those generation___. Help, I need a list I can plaster next to the computer. Who can remember it all?

 

[Josie]

One of the most popular answers to "What do you want to be when you grow up?" in my class is "YouTuber" or now "TikToker". It's been that way for 7-8 years now. And it's not just girls who want to be beauty influencers. The boys want to be Mr. Beast.

 

[slavablueberryjam]

The next generation of influencers are here. And they’re less than 10 years old.

A new wave of influencers from Gen Alpha — kids born between 2010 and 2024 — are building followings online for videos posted on their parent-run accounts.

www.nbcnews.com

I find this disturbing. Kids this young should not be social media influencers. They should be living life as kids--playing outdoors, doing homework, and spending time with friends.

You know, a lot of younger parents don't have the time to make for their kids. And their kids want to watch youtube with kids that are their age. There's this one youtube channel where the kids are centerpiece and they advertise all the 'free' stuff they get from advertisers as a part of their 'skit'. The home they own is really really nice. It's a good idea for business oriented parents to do because of the world we live in now. They get to still be kids. I am sure, the kids are not aware of what they are mostly doing. So who wouldn't like new toys once a week or so?

 

[fallenturtle]

Certainly fame is dangerous to mental health. The more undeserved the fame, the more dangerous it is. Child influencers will surely face some crisis where they question themselves and perhaps find themselves undeserving of the fame, but they should be able to deal with that.

Unless their parents or handlers have syphoned off and spent all the money they earned. If they still have millions of dollars at age 18 (or whatever younger age a court will grant their earnings to them) then they can employ a psych to help them through the transition to adulthood.

It's weird that so many people here are making victims of some of the most privileged people there are. I can't help thinking there is jealousy in it. Wouldn't it be great to be rich and famous and outshine your own parents, even before you hit high school? Have you forgotten the impotent rage of being dismissed as "just a child" or perhaps you were beaten down from such a young age, you never felt that at all.

Privileged people can be victims too.