the sick and twisted reality of mommy blogging

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the sick and twisted reality of mommy blogging
Hey everyone welcome back to my channel! today we’re going to be checking out a community i’m sure you’ve heard of but probably haven’t paid too much mind to as of late- the mommy blogging community! some of you guys might remember hearing about that corner of youtube thanks to scandals from youtubers like Myka Stauffer who returned her adopted son after vlogging the entire experience online and using him in advertisements or Nikki Phillippi after she admitted she halted an adoption in Thailand after finding out she legally wouldn’t be allowed to vlog her baby for a year. I thought in this video we could take a more general look at the community to try and understand why what feels like such a controversial corner of youtube is still so popular right now and whether anything good can actually come from it. Plus I thought it’d be interesting to look into why this is such a popular genre in the first place beyond just being a viewer, but actually creating the content and choosing to share so much of your child’s life online with millions of strangers.
Some of you guys might be thinking that mommy blogging and family channels are interchangeable and I’d definitely agree with you to an extent, there’s definitely a lot of crossover but I think that there’s a slight difference in the approach. I almost feel like mommy blogging tries to position itself as the more refined and “mature” take on family vlogging, where there’s less clickbait or shock value… or fake pranks. It’s also usually more the mom who’s the front and center voice relaying her experience with her children versus including the entire family as a “brand” and the videos tend to lean more into the lifestyle category versus vlog. But just because they may try to be more refined than family channels, doesn’t mean they’re exempt from getting into their own drama and controversies. I think children on youtube has always been a heated topic so it’s no surprise that mommy blogging isn’t typically looked at in the best light by the general internet.
I don’t have a ton of experience with the genre as a viewer since it just isn’t the type of content I’m interested in so I was curious heading into this video what the content would be like and why people were so obsessed with it, I think I at least understand the appeal now and hopefully if you were in the same position as me before watching you’ll have a better idea by the end of it too or tbh if you have a different opinion i’d love to hear about it in the comments! hopefully you guys enjoy the video, i know this topic can get pretty tangled up so i’m curious to know what you guys think about the situation and how you think mommy blogging will turn out in the future - see you in the comments!
OH also if you want to keep up with my videos you can click the notification bell to be notified every time i upload and ofc subscribe if you wanna see more from me! appreciate the support as always see you sooooon :)
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[@justjulie1113]

In 5-10 years we'll be seeing kids posting "what it was like being mommy vlogged/family vlogged as a child" videos

[@LargoFan2000]

If you look they have written for various sites about the experience and they are usually not very happy about it.

[@veryverybisexual4963]

@@LargoFan2000 can you leave a link for me pls?

[@HASQ779]

@@LargoFan2000 if you know of any i would love a link as well

[@LBVED]

theres already accounts on tiktok from people who lived the 1st wave of mommy blogging back when actual blogs where a thing!!

[@dontbefatuousjeffrey2494]

@@Niniminns That was very sobering and has made me think a lot (I am largely very private online, but my child watches certain KZbin channels I have approved. I am now reconsidering the reasons for that approval). Thank you very much for the reference :-)

[@melissabailey5930]

Back in the day I watched this channel called "Texan in Tokyo." Started out with just the girl but then she met her future husband and we watched them grow as a couple. When they found out she was pregnant they told their audience that they were stopping videos because their kid couldn't consent to vlogs.

[@sarasthoughts]

I remember this!! I loved their channel :( I don't think she was pregnant though? I remember it being a preventative change to concentrate on their private life and forming a family, but I might remember it wrong

[@29jgirl92]

Good for them!

[@melissabailey5930]

@@sarasthoughts rewatched their last vid and you're right! I could've sworn she was pregnant but they had only just decided to start having kids.

[@mj-yo7vt]

I watched them too!!!

[@yukisakamoto9818]

Omg,I really liked them.I wish they would come back. They could make videos when they go to new places or talk about Japanese culture (things to avoid when you are in Japan,things I wish I brought on my suitcases when coming to Japan,interviewing other people,etc) .No need to show their babies.

[@kelseyspolejourney5417]

Mommy blogging also puts a huge amount of pressure on women to have stylized, beautifully arranged pregnancies and child-rearing experiences. If your kid is screaming, covered in goop, or doesn't have an expensively made-over bedroom, how are you going to feel when your only points of reference are these perfect mommies online with perfect babies?

[@kiaramaposa3878]

I don't know if this is related but I hate how the internet puts emphasis on women's bodies after they give birth. I feel like a lot of new mothers will feel bad for not having a fit body like celebrities (who actually just get surgery but never tell the public)

[@AlinaKat3]

Exactly, that's one of the main reasons why I never looked up mommy blogs/vlogs when I was pregnant and even now with a toddler. I can't help comparing myself to these "perfect" moms so instead of stressing and getting even more depressed, I just do my own thing lololo

[@Author.Noelle.Alexandria]

@@kiaramaposa3878 They don’t have surgery. They have nannies so they can sleep, and personal chefs and trainers to help them get back into shape fast. And like it or not, some people just bounce back quickly. I’m one of them. I was back in my pre-pregnancy jeans the literal next day with accusations that I didn’t really just have a baby.

[@kiteride8674]

It certainly feeds into overconsumption too.

[@Tee256]

So true! I was just reflecting on how weird it is to see women share photos postpartum, in full makeup and hair for the gram.

[@littlesiha]

"a certain breed of clown" is going straight into my insult memory bank

[@rainbowMFdash]

Omg siha

[@amerly586]

@Madeline its just a funny way of calling someone a clown

[@cuterobots1733]

Its like saying "some type of idiot", saying you are an idiot, but what kind are you? lol

[@32starsandsugar]

same lmao

[@wee_zzz]

ngl, i’d be kind of sad if my growing up was used on a mommy blog. it’s different looking at your childhood in a personal photo album, vs. watching it in a youtube playlist with Adsense and millions of views :/

[@AxxLAfriku]

SUPRISE! I am the funniest YTer evah!!!! Just kidding, it was no surprise. Everybody knew already. HAHAHHAHA!!!! That was an amazing joke (it was real talk though). WAWAWAWAWA!!!! Good afternoon, dear pp

[@heysaucemikehere1804]

@@AxxLAfriku ah yes, you’ve finally infiltrated this channel

[@GwendolynnBY]

not to mention all the comments total strangers have made on your life

[@HazyPinkSky]

Yeah I can’t imagine looking at the comments from the first time you say a word or whatever and it’s just a sea of countless strangers talking about how cute you are or how fast you’re growing :/ so fucking uncomfortable, kids deserve to grow up in private

[@buckyscastle]

yea because then you’re wondering “oh did mom capture these because she wanted to look back on precious moments later or did she want to make money off of sponsors”

[@spaghetti4659]

Growing up, my mom had a blog where she wrote about our family's everyday life and shared funny and interesting stories about raising me and my brother. So, my childhood is in some way and to some extent documented on the internet. The thing is, it was only a blog, she never shared any pictures or videos of us (or herself for that matter), and didn't even reveal our first names (she used nicknames instead). Seeing all of those mommy bloggers and family channels now, I am so grateful that my mom allowed me to have a normal childhood and didn't just put my whole life on the internet for everyone to see, cause I'm sure that would mess me up. I find these kinds of channels disturbing, to say the least.

[@heysaucemikehere1804]

Honestly I think that’s perfectly fine, it doesn’t hurt the child(ren) or family, and at the same time helps out other parents and parents to be

[@PlayerTenji95]

Anonymity is very crucial, I think.

[@stupidass69420]

Your mom’s a great mom btw!

[@annakepes8050]

Yeah that's like the modern equivalent of a parenting memoir

[@freakette555]

My dad ran a blog where he shared stories about his life, and he used nicknames for me and my mom. Funny enough, I loved the nickname he gave me, Freakette, so much, that I started using it as my username online (lol). Still, I'm glad he used a pseudonym instead of my name so I could chose whether I wanted to associate with those stories about me online once I was an adult.

[@gracejuice]

can't believe casey jumped into the sea to film her sponsor section. so dedicated

[@maddie-co8uf]

@@caseyaonso4270 a real life mermaid🧜‍♀️

[@blackmoveimgaywidow2484]

@@OctopusWhoSeesAll bruh your name is perfect for this comment 😂

[@cadenceolivia6304]

Very much a girlboss move

[@artcowboy]

It just shows how dedicated Casey is to her content 😤👌

[@vanessagrace6127]

And in her chair no less, impressive!

[@alextheasparagus6675]

I often wonder how these sorts of things are going to affect the children psychologically long-term. I mean we’ve seen child stars grow up and feeling like shit, but this is different (not the least in amount of affected kids)

[@tensugarcubes]

there was a tiktoker whose name i cant remember who made some vids abt how growing up being the subject of their mom's blog and how it messed them up so yeah it's def not gonna be great for hr kid

[@carlaviz6605]

It's different because at least child actors have a separation between home and work, for these kids their whole life is content.

[@dontbefatuousjeffrey2494]

@@carlaviz6605 this comment is so very insightful :-)

[@DisabledDragon]

I think the closest comparison we have is probably the Olsen twins, given that they were actual babies when they were forced into "acting" (because infants are not actually acting) and from what I understand they didn't have that much in terms of a life separate from acting and business

[@Tee256]

True!

[@madisonceola]

I remember seeing a tweet talking about how weird it is for people to pimp out their toddlers on social media and the replies were full of defensive internet mommies saying that even though they post their kids for thousands of followers and make money off of them, “it’s not exploitation because they’re photogenic.” I was honestly stunned

[@-Ghostess]

I usually point out at that point how they are potentially setting the kid up to be groomed or abused by bad people who will agree the kid is photogenic. I barely know what some kids in my family look like because their parents are careful not to show them on social media often to protect them.

[@m.josena4485]

There truly are people with no brains😭

[@PanicattheDiscourse]

One mommyblogger looked at her demographics and had like 70+% male viewers. When she disabled video's to be embedded, it dropped to 15%. Turned out, her "toddler potty training" vids were being linked on chomo sites.

[@OnewBiased]

@@PanicattheDiscourse i don't know what chomo is and now i'm afraid to even google it

[@PanicattheDiscourse]

@@OnewBiased it's a contraction of child and a word starting with mo... So you're right not to google.

[@aryswheel9327]

i feel like we gotta talk specifically about autistic kids as well. they’re often used by non-autistic parent vloggers as their reason to speak for the community, meanwhile they’re doing heinous things like filming their children’s meltdowns or leaving them to ‘cry it out’ without addressing the issue or forcing them into corrective therapy for ultimately harmless behaviors-something that actively harmed me and other autistic people growing up. the amount of footage that moms’ upload of their child experiencing a meltdown (essentially a mental health crisis imo) makes me so upset. i can’t imagine having video of me when i felt scared or overwhelmed or pained existing online for others to see, especially as a small child. it’s triggering to even imagine tbh

[@obi-wan-pierogi]

Yeah that makes me uncomfortable too, also I’m autistic and my step dad would film my melt downs and threaten to send it to my classmates. It honestly traumatized me and just hearing that parents Upload those things to the public makes me so anxious.

[@kawaiisugarglider9171]

@@obi-wan-pierogi so sorry to hear that happened to you, but I must say that I love your username

[@palesgensler3099]

As someone on the autism spectrum. I was just about to say the same thing. This is one of the reasons why I am glad that KZbin did not exist until I was in middle school. Not only that but it’s not just autism I hate seeing parents use their kids disabilities to get sympathy points.

[@aryswheel9327]

@@palesgensler3099 yeah absolutely! good point, no disabled kids deserve to have their lives publicized for sympathy points

[@felixflax19]

This this this! Those parents should join support groups, not be publicly humiliating their children…

[@vaibhavirai3502]

"...Having a kid shouldn't be treated as the same as getting a new car or a house..." couldn't have said it better myself. While this kind of content can be cute and stuff for some, making videos on parenting and related experiences (even having their kids feature on it sometimes) is one thing but if the entire channel is based on their kids is very murky. I used to watch some creators way back but stopped because their pregnancy trail would be just unending. Not saying that they shouldn't have the kids they want but it just makes me uncomfortable watching so many of them. (I come from a big family). Great video! 👍

[@divaprincess98]

It's kind of a microcosm of how society in general treats kids like a goal that every respectable adult must reach before they're 40. Doubly so if they're married. Not every married couple has to or should be parents, and not every parent has to be married to raise a kid properly.

[@CordeliaWagner]

It's selfish to have more than 2 children. A) because noone can care properly for more B) earth is totally overpopulated and having too many children jusr exxellerates our extinction via heat and wars over the last ressources.

[@AB-hv3wb]

Another huuuge problem that comes up often with these mommy bloggers is how easy it is to spread harmful misinformation, especially medical advice about their young children. I feel like anti-vax conspiracies, essential oils and other pseudoscience often goes hand in hand with the whole mommy blog thing

[@julieschubert7418]

YES YES YES YES YES

[@everylaurenislemons]

I was hoping Casey would go into that, it’s such a huge issue

[@freakette555]

ESPECIALLY moms of disabled kids. I was in a group where a mother claimed that her son was "cured" of his (incurable and lifelong) heart defect and started pushing back against people correcting her by basically saying "well maybe you/your kids can't be cured but we prayed hard enough that his condition went away"

[@divaprincess98]

Not to mention those people earn a lot of money pushing that nonsense since they're usually sponsored by predatory MLMs like Young Living and dōTERRA.

[@shinchan7778]

and MLMs

[@lunaxavia6639]

I find it a little icky that all the channels are called "mommy blogs" although for a lot of the channels, the dad is also involved and I think it really adds to the idea that the mom is responsible for the children and if the parents make a mistake, it's only the mother's fault.

[@isabellp.5730]

Big agree.

[@ss-hc7tb]

your pfp

[@bruhjime2675]

I kind of agree but at the same time a large amount of them are run by the moms while the dads are just kinda there. That's not always the case (the ace family comes to mind) but the mom seems to be the one holding the camera and running their socials 9/10.

[@anitachamberlain3391]

This is something I was wondering. Like, would people see it as weird somehow if they were labeled 50% dad vlogs and mom vlogs?.. Would people be more critical, or Less, due to how those roles are typically assigned to women? Would the views drop because maybe some creeps watch for the wrong reason, and would that change how these vlogs are viewed? I don't know why they're always labeled as just mommy vlogs when its representing family, but it definitely feels disappointing to consider.

[@squidthing]

I literally just left a comment about how Myka Stauffer was the only one to get put to the fire over dumping her child and how her husband and his channel were essentially unaffected -- he continues to post to this day!

[@jaelk]

As soon as you mentioned the fact that there are parents today who grew up watching KZbin, I got physically punched in the face the passage of time. I've never considered that before

[@maroonggirl]

Kids born in the year 2000 can now buy alcohol and tobacco after their birthday this year. The fact that I can look at an ID, see a birth year starting with 19.. and instantly know they're old enough, oof. And I'm so sorry to alarm anyone, but people born in the 80s are getting to the point where I don't have to card them if they look like they're 40+. Smash Mouth tried to warn us when they said "the years start coming and they don't stop coming", but I ignored them like a fool.

[@kristina_lynn]

Same! I feel pretty young but KZbin wasnt really a thing until I was in college

[@gwendolynhogan6373]

if anyone has ever seen or read “gone girl” it’s heavily implied that many of amy’s problems started / were exasperated because her parents exploited and occasionally fabricated her childhood for their “amazing amy” book. 😐 this is literally so much worse lol

[@branthlysauveur359]

The word you were looking for is exacerbated*. Otherwise yeah this is messed up.

[@danoooo7189]

YES OMG

[@roroh6817]

I just don’t understand why there aren’t more child labour laws that cover this?!

[@caitlynr7295]

They’ll come. There were basically no laws protecting child actors in the early days of film, and I think the children of mommy vloggers/in family vlogging channels are in a similar situation now. Once this generation of kids grows up and starts speaking about their experience, and specifically once there’s big lawsuits and a very public push for change, that’s when it’ll likely start being legislated on. Actually I think we’re right at the beginning of that change happening. France recently passed a law intended to limit the amount of hours children in these families can work and what happens with their money, and the law includes the “right to be forgotten” (so if a minor requests a platform remove photos of them, the platform has to comply). I’m not in France and I don’t know the specifics, but it seems like a huge step in the right direction and as long as they find ways to make all of this enforceable, then hopefully other countries follow suit.

[@m.josena4485]

It might be a bit too early or too difficult to exactly know how to make the laws just yet. But I definitely see them coming soon, hopefully

[@elbruces]

Well first of all, the kids aren't doing any labor.

[@sarahmorris4575]

It’s extremely new. As far as I’m aware, child labour hasn’t been a major public issue since we had the big ones made into law (no working under 14, ethics, etc. etc.) People in government are typically old (mostly derogatory) and don’t often think about hose kinds of issues because they don’t come up in their everyday lives, if at all.

[@janet0613.]

Children specifically in the US do not have that many rights, I don’t think the US even ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child :(

[@geekxlove81]

I guess I don't see why youtube couldn't just make it against guidelines for anyone under the age of 15 to have more than 10% of a presence in any given video. Or require minors' faces to be blocked out. These regulations would kill the family and mommy blogging industries, but these are exploitative industries that we do not need.

[@GravityFallsUp]

Mommy vlogging and Family channels make KZbin a lot of money, they don’t want to lose that revenue

[@felixflax19]

They’d need to hire moderators to watch the videos to ascertain kids’ ages - that kind of guideline can’t be enforced by computers yet and I get the sense most of KZbin’s guidelines are automated

[@noel2223]

You have too much faith in KZbin’s technological ability to regulate their content with how much is put out every minute. Also once they start regulating their content too much, they become liable for what’s on their platform and if they get a few major lawsuits it could bankrupt the platform. It’s the difference between being a publisher versus being a platform where publishers are legally responsible for everything on their platform. It’s the same reason why Facebook and Twitter don’t take down much content.

[@squidthing]

There are literally terroists on here making threats and youtube doesn't do anything about them because they get views

[@MsEverAfterings]

How would Ryan review his toys then? Lol it would be a huge profit loss for KZbin, doubt they would do that

[@cassie-opiea3800]

i feel compelled to share that the octomom is now the mother of fourteen children who are all vegan and go to bed at eight thirty. do with this information what you will.

[@annakepes8050]

Good for her

[@alexandra3804]

14????

[@notthatcreativewithnames]

14 children with the same dietary requirement and scheduled bed time, I don't know if this is a family, a military base, or a cult.

[@jaycookie2912]

@@notthatcreativewithnames what? children all eat the same in one house, unless there's one who needs special accommodations. And 8:30 is a normal bed time for kids from anywhere from 7-16.

[@adumba3709]

@@jaycookie2912 what???? Do teenagers actually go to bed that early or am I just weird lmao cause my bedtime was 10 pm when I was younger 😭

[@blackisntdarkenough]

It was bad enough when my mom tagged me in not-so-flattering photos from sports games and family events... I am SO glad this wasn't a thing when I was a kid.

[@marad786]

Me too! Some of these channels are heinous. Not to be dramatic but if my mother posted a sponsored video to her audience of hundreds of THOUSANDS detailing every aspect my first period I would absolutely never forgive her. I don't know how these parents go to sleep at night peacefully in a house bought off exploiting their kiddos.

[@Maryam-forbia]

Same girl,my mom only ever used to share some photos and videos of me when I was in 6th grade or something and I was sooo affected by that even tho it was a simpe thing,but I was sad because this is me,I am the one who should have the say about my photos and I used to consider myself ugly,so to me my mom was showing the unflattering stuff that I don't want to be shared....these are just a couple photos and videos imagine these poor children having their whole life online

[@whydididothatoops]

I genuinely don’t understand how someone can make the decision to go through the entire adoption process, care for and bond with a child, and then say goodbye to them. how do you look a child in the eye and say goodbye to them? just watch them leave and watch their entire lives get uprooted again after promising them a home? especially after profiting off of them like that? so gross

[@madsm248]

@@talienatte5557 Damn, you really have nothing else going on lmao

[@philips77778]

Because they r just pigs and using these kids for views and $$$$

[@sabbath2112]

I can't stand the people who get mad at creators who DON'T want to share any pics/videos/info about their children. People have become so used to creators oversharing so much that they feel entitled to know about their personal lives. I watched a creator who didn't even want to share their kid's names or let anyone know if their kids were boys or girls, and people acted like they were being ridiculous! Creators absolutely do not need to share any info that they don't want to share.

[@juliettefranks8518]

its so scary to think that these people were like... "i can't exploit it.... deal breaker" like what are u having/adopting kids for then ?????

[@apurpleukulele9905]

for your future reference, in general the autistic community prefers "is autistic" to "has/with autism" (because 'is' is usually used for neutral things "is left handed" "is blonde" whereas 'has' is usually used for negative things "has polio" "has cancer" many poisitive/neutral words CANT be said with 'has' "has lefthandedness" and if you do try do it, that immediately gives it negative connotations, because autism isn't negative, it just IS, we prefer "is autistic" [not everyone, but the general consensus is 'is' is better])

[@stupidass69420]

👏👏👏

[@stephanieluvisi2418]

autistic here, i’ll generally agree with you however of course the point about people prefering different things is important!

[@gommy0415]

Thanks for explaining. Will keep it in mind too!

[@-Ghostess]

As a fellow autistic person, this! I usually explain it as "I have a blue purse, I can put it down if I choose" I can't put my autism down, or tuck it under a chair, because it is part of my brain. Brain scans show differences in shape of some structures in the brain. It's part of who we are.

[@ghoulishtoad]

thank u i was holding my breath the entire time hoping so bad she wouldny accidentally say some shit but shes casey so idk why i worried, its a common mistake ppl without it tend to make

[@meanpoutine7095]

My favourite “mommy vlogger” stopped doing KZbin about 2 years ago when people started becoming more aware of child exploitation on KZbin. She said it was tiring and she wanted to focus on her children & their life. I miss her videos because she was so kind & her videos always seemed genuine & her children seemed actually happy but ultimately I know she’s a good mom simply because she chose to stop filming her children.

[@isitamoguel]

Whooo

[@Maya-ht9tm]

Who was it?

[@fa1ruz]

That's one good mom

[@khristanne]

Kids aren't dogs. A dog is just happy to be here. A child is far more complicated.

[@starfakename9293]

im a mom and oh i love this video while i like being able to read articles on Mom Blogs about "oh we had these issues too, your kids not weird", i do try not to engage with the content that plasters their kid's identity all over the place :// like you can talk about being a mom and share the occasional tasteful image or fun story without completely wrecking your child's online identity, you know?

[@29jgirl92]

Yes, theres a way to do it that is not exploiting your child!!

[@eloquent233]

My mother is very cautious about social media like ig only when your thirteen and my acc has to be private she really is protective over these things

[@Catz1a]

Yes and I think it also emphasizes social media at too young an age. Getting validation from others by putting your whole self online is something a child (and many adults) can’t really gauge a limit on and can be dependant on that. As you said, it’s making the kids chronically online. I don’t want to be like “way social media bad” but in some ways it is. Even teenage influencers often say they wish they’d waited longer until they were more secure and mature to put themselves out there etc

[@JesseCourtJester]

Maybe my sense of humour is just really stupid, but this title alone has me dying on the train

[@Hannieah]

I do watch mommy vlogs, but they are the calm "aesthetic" ones by Korean youtubers that are mostly just close ups of the mom cooking or cleaning and when the children are in the videos (sometimes they aren't) you typically only see them from the neck down or from behind, very rarely does the mom show her child's face or the face of anyone in the family. Also, it's just music and ambient sound and subtitles, so it's very chill and they are usually just explaining what they use to clean and share recipes and their hopes for their children's future happiness. I guess it might be more "housewife vlogs" but all of them have kids, so maybe it's a bit of both. They are so chill though, one of my favorite ways to wind down during my down time in grad school.

[@m.josena4485]

It sounds...very peaceful really

[@marie-eve822]

@@talienatte5557 yo to each their own, it’s not my cup of tea either but if they like to wind down to these videos it’s not more of a waste of time than watching any other type of content on KZbin.

[@lissq2769]

@@talienatte5557 But people need down time/time to relax once in a while??? And if ‘correcting’ this person is such a burden for you, I’m not sure why you did it because it was uncalled for, unhelpful and actually you’re not ‘objectively’ right anyway. Taking time to relax is a valid use of someone’s time if that’s what they need to do (and not that it should be relevant anyway but I’m pretty sure recipes and cleaning tips could actually benefit you in the future). Also, you can throw about all the fancy words you like but it doesn’t make you or your opinions superior to other people, and you’re not even using some of the words properly so maybe there’s an opportunity for you to go and amplify your knowledge there.

[@eu3801]

@@talienatte5557 I would disagree with the facts but I think the main problem people have with your comment is just the tone? Like ‘wasting time’ is obviously mainly used in a negative way, so your comment is easily perceived as insulting and rude, whether you meant it or not or if your comment was “objectively” correct/true.

[@manicpepsicola3431]

@@talienatte5557 I'm sorry you're so caught up in being productive you can't enjoy things that are "a waste of time" learn to live life and stop being condescending also look at you wasting time arguing online go read a book or something since you're so worried about people wasting time lol

[@unfabulouslyfabulous]

You can absolutely review products, give tips, and be helpful to other moms without having to post every single moment of your child’s life.

[@darkninjafirefox]

The level of ableism from mommy blogs, especially but not exclusively autism moms (by which I mean neurotypical parents of autistic kids. Autistic parents sharing their experiences are wonderful and needed) is honestly disgusting. Aside from putting a camera on someone during a meltdown being exploitative, the misinformation they spread is honestly deadly

[@erikdaniels0n]

If anybody is interested in a deeper dive into the darker side of family vloggers, Hailey Elizabeth has a wonderful 3 part series where she focuses specifically on The ACE Family, 8 Passengers and The Shaytards

[@clairewillow6475]

Ruby from 8 passengers is a complete sadist 😓

[@erikdaniels0n]

@@clairewillow6475 She is. She and the dad from Daddy of 5 should have a “worst parent off”.

[@FileCode1459]

thanks for the rec! i'm gonna check them out. this stuff makes me very upset but it's so interesting at the same time

[@hnichole]

I agree, I love Hailey Elizabeth's videos and her family vloggers series really dives into ALL of the controversies and scandals of all of those families.

[@jessicamattes4208]

For more content like this, Tiffanyferg has a few great videos deep diving into family vlogging

[@GreenAndGoth]

Adoption agent: “You cannot film baby for a year.” Fam bloggers: “Oh….” Ad: “ITS TIME TO FORGET EVERYTHING-“

[@Starkid_hanners]

A huge reason why I can’t stomach mommy vlogs and family channels is that even the best most considerate parents who do it literally do not know who is watching their channels. It’s not the same as posting on fb for friends and family to look at your kid. With millions of views it’s definitely not all innocent people watching for mothering tips.

[@ellaturkiewicz333]

This is unfortunately true, I was looking for someone in the comments who had brought this up.

[@Shadeadder]

The big red flag is when "mom" channels' content revolves around the kids. Like, mom content necessarily means your kids might make an appearance every now and then, but it should be incidental rather than focal.

[@Mels0103]

If my childhood consisted of constant filming and performing I'd be even more depressed than I am now. Poor little Courtlynnleigh is gonna grow up with a lens in her face literally from the second she's born because her parents are money hungry.

[@alysa7364]

Courtlynnleigh 😂

[@zuzzzied]

i honestly appreciated dantdm not showing his kid when he first announced their birth :) i havent caught up on his content lately, so i'm not sure if things have changed, but i thought that it very responsible!

[@kerezymaii]

His face is still private. They have never shown it and I dont think they will. Hats off to them. I dont watch Dan anymore because I grew out of his videos, but hes a solid dude. A good person

[@green-fv7xs]

He has a few videos with his son, mostly on shorts, they're adorable ^^ the son's face I believe still hasn't been shown?

[@kerezymaii]

@@green-fv7xs Yeah theres pics and videos of Asher. But his face is never shown

[@factsandlogic.8762]

dantdm had a kid?! oh my god i feel old…

[@KH0LRA]

@@kerezymaii same! me and bro followed him during his TDM days. Glad to see him good after 8 years!!

[@megangrant2597]

My son is 5 years old and there are no photos or videos of him online. It will stay that way until he is old enough to decide if he wants to post anything at all. Also I vote for Target as the name of Sarah's little bundle of joy 🤣

[@Chronicallywitty]

I’m really leaning towards all of garden 😂😂

[@talienatte5557]

then who’s that kid in your profile photo?

[@golddisasters]

I can’t remember the specific law, but there is a law that prevents the parents of child celebrities from taking all the profits of their childrens’ work, and makes it so that a certain percentage has to be put in an account for the child (or something along those lines, I’m no law student). I think if KZbin could somehow establish a policy that any child that consistently shows up on a monetized channel is entitled to a cut of whatever a video makes, I feel like that would deter less well-meaning mommy vloggers.

[@manifestationsofasort]

I don't think a KZbin policy would deter the exploitative type of mommy vloggers because that would be wayyy too easy to lie about and get around it. The only way it would actually deter those types would be to make it an actual friggin LAW.

[@purploscity]

… how would KZbin, a private company (not even their employer) with ZERO legal jurisdiction regulate how KZbinrs managed their finances?? Only government can make that kind of decision.

[@madsm248]

@@purploscityKZbin is a billion dollar company, i’m gonna guess they could do something about it

[@erikdaniels0n]

You’re talking about the Jackie Coogan Law, or just the Coogan Law. Yeah, there really needs to be something like that established for youtubers. That wasa whole discussion a few years ago when COPA became a thing after people realized that channels like Ryan’s Toy Reviews were basically working full time jobs despite being literal children

[@Author.Noelle.Alexandria]

Coogan laws cover what’s defined as child labor within the state of California. Filming a child going about their day isn’t considered to be labor. Even giving a kid a bunch of crap to unbox and letting them unbox is isn’t considered labor.

[@GreenAndGoth]

When some of these children grow up, I just FEEL in my bones that there’s gonna be a lot of them talking about the traumatic experience of having their whole childhood documented for the whole world.

[@aeoligarlic4024]

After honey booboo and toddlers & tiara these kids are definitely gonna be the next generation of stressed teenagers

[@ellaturkiewicz333]

I couldn’t agree more with this!

[@_PixalatedCvnttery]

Mommy vlogging is a whole aesthetic now a days. I wonder if I’m the only one who thinks family vloggers just have kids for the channel and views .

[@justjulie1113]

That thought itself is just gross to me

[@Spidertheidiot]

Some I think definitely have bad intentions, others I think just don't understand the extent of uploading their children to the internet.

[@Awooe111]

Obviously they exploit their kids for moneys, because KZbin is easy money. Never understood people who think that their irl life must be very important for random people to film it everyday and every bit

[@amandam5773]

This is one of the reasons I've been feeling kinda weird about watching Colleen Ballinger lately. Her shift to mommy content is so blatant and even though her videos are adorable and don't feel exploitative, I'm not sure how those children will feel later on knowing so much of their life is online. Her career was slowly going downhill on KZbin and she's back to getting great views lately because of Flynn. I don't know...

[@abbysc417]

She’s pregnant again and that’s 99% of her content

[@marisssssssa]

she also said she would never post her kid when she was pregnant the first time because they couldn’t consent, so it’s sad to see that changed when the view count went up

[@lauralauranw]

@@marisssssssa thank you for pointing this out. I remember her mentioning this but couldn't find it anywhere so figured I must have been wrong. It makes sense - with her brother being a family vlogger - for her not to take her child's consent into consideration. But it's particularly insidious when she acknowledges the issue prior to the birth and now pretends that was never a thing.

[@Fallphoenix18]

I kind of feel weird about the Ballinger family. Family and mommy vlogs are weird as a concept, but they do it so nicely??? I just don't know what to think

[@ellec.2075]

@@Fallphoenix18 I personally love watching the Ballinger family.

[@Hyzentley]

Man, as a autistic woman that story with the adoption just creeps me out so much. I am so done with people like me not being seen as people but as things to use. Its never about us, its always just about the people oh so brave and selfless to do the bare minimum aka putting up with us.

[@anishini362]

Exactly! We are people, not tools for pity

[@cartoonlover4479]

👏👏👏👏 yes

[@cupio-stardust]

Autistic boy here too, and that last sentence really hit hard for me, I’m always seen as a burden to my family.

[@yogurt8150]

an ok version i think is sharing CAREFULLY SELECTED stories without involving the kids. and when theyre old enough, sharing what the kids want to share (like if they want to show off their art). you can talk abt parenting topics without involving your kids in a recognisable way. best would also be to not include any real names at all. and i think never post pics of your kids until theyre old enough to decide if they want them out there, and even then explain to them what exactly that means. share your parent cooking tips, or the cute clothes you get or make for your kids. involve your kids in age appropriate ways too i guess (have your kid decide the topic of the next video, get their opinions on stuff or have them come up w challenges maybe) my thoughts at least, sorry if its hard to read or sth im very tired

[@Shadeadder]

this. i follow a mom vlog that gets it. their children show up, incidentally, but not the focus of the videos, and never in compromising or embarrassing situations. the mom has a rule that she'll never show the kids' rooms so they have their privacy. and her content is mostly tips for being organized, meal planning, thrifting kid's clothes, fun "field trip" ideas, or talking about personal experiences with stuff like home schooling.

[@GreenAndGoth]

@@Shadeadder Basically tips on how to be a fun and efficient mom. Sounds good to me. And the kids still have the privacy they need. 👍🏻

[@Author.Noelle.Alexandria]

“i think never post pics of your kids until theyre old enough to decide if they want them out there, and even then explain to them what exactly that means.” Spoken like someone who isn’t a parent. My daughter desperately wanted a KZbin channel when she was 4, and begged. I explained to her why that’s not a good idea. By your thinking, she wanted one, and I explained, so may as well go ahead and make the channel. It’s not even remotely reasonable to expect children to be hidden from the internet. The important thing is for parents to use good discretion, and again, this doesn’t mean acting like a child doesn’t exist or making them into ghosts with fake names. I think a place where a lot of people go wrong is raising their kids to see certain normal things as embarrassing. A picture of you picking your nose as a kid? If you’re embarrassed, it’s because you don’t see that as a normal thing that literally every kid does…and in public. It’s not a personal thing, like going to the bathroom. There are two pics of my Facebook of my daughter when she was a toddler digging hard for gold. She also knows that all kids do that, and now, at almost 12, she thinks they’re funny because I actually managed to get a picture of something that is usually done and over too fast for someone to get out a camera to take a pic. Today’s children WANT to be online, and if anything, today’s parents are the ones having to say NO.

[@yogurt8150]

@@Author.Noelle.Alexandria i mean no, 4 year olds arent allowed to have a regular youtube channel so obviously?? and geez youre making it sound like using a nickname and avoiding to show off your kid to the Internet is acting like they dont exist lol theres a difference between "i post a few pics of my kids on my private facebook or instagram, where mostly family and friends will see them" and "i have a public platform on youtube or instagram where thousands of strangers will see anything i share, let me post my kids face, name and potentially identifiable info there" completly different stuff

[@sighcantthinkofaname]

I'd recommend an interview clip titled "Growing Up a Child Reality Star (ft. Dance Mom's Chloé Lukasiak)" She talks about how at the time working crazy long hours and being on the show just felt normal, like she didn't even question it. Kids from school who knew her before she was famous treated her normally, but once she switched schools kids started trying to befriend her just because she was famous. I think fame impacts kids in subtle little ways that they don't even understand until adulthood. That's why I never will get behind parents who claim their kids love it, that it's fun for them. They're too young to decide that.

[@mayafantana5310]

Imagine you're growing up in a mommy vloger family, you're a huge part of the brand and your face/name is all over it. Then your parents get cancelled for racist shit or one cheats on the other and thousands of people know all about before you do. And when someone Googles you, your parents old drama comes up.

[@c.j.4014]

Realizing that there's "an entire generation of moms who grew up watching KZbin" is stressing me out so much. 😭

[@cjboyo]

The octomom story is actually heartbreaking. Basically this woman had one kid by IVF, but she did not want to throw away her leftover embryos, so she asked the doctor to try to implant them. The doctor made NEW EMBRYOS and lied about what he was doing so she went through multiple IVF pregnancies and then the doctor decided to EXPERIMENT on her without her permission and implanted eight embryos

[@CordeliaWagner]

So much fuss about a few clumps of cells.

[@sayrah6716]

it feels really exploitative and like the parent truly is viewing their child as an extension of themselves. I hate it, I hate how normalized this kind of content is, & I wish more people would think about the ethics of having their kids online in that way.

[@katemurray8201]

My friend is deeeeeep into mommy vlogging. We’re both almost 20 and in college, and she now has major baby fever and plans on being a mommy vlogger. I feel like I should show her this video lmao

[@AnnieFarmer113]

You definitely should!

[@liofotiafan9460]

its been 11 months. any updates?

[@Erinba]

This is terrifying

[@katemurray8201]

@@liofotiafan9460 turns out she’s a lesbian, so no babies anytime soon 🤷‍♀️

[@Liloi9667]

@@katemurray8201good for her omg

[@sassafrasfruit]

It's interesting, this amazing youtuber I've followed for a while, Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, recently had a child with her wife and started making videos focused on pregnancy, nursery decorating ect as well as her usual videos that are usually focused on lgbt history and disability, and I've noticed her baby related videos always get over 100k views, all the way up to 1 mil on their pregnancy announcement video (...which admittedly made me cry when I watched it), but most of her non-baby related recent stuff gets a lot less. I can see why those numbers could make you go with that content more tbh. Though with Jessica and her wife, there's a fresh element they bring to 'mommy blogging', openly talking about raising a child when you're queer and disabled. I also can't see them exploiting their child, but I suppose that kind of raises the question of, is making videos about your child, regardless of content, inherently exploitative?

[@sassafrasfruit]

@@talienatte5557 You don't have to be an asshole to some random person who made a completely inoffensive comment, yknow. And I cried because I am not immune to parasocial relationships, so I've grown to like them, and that video showed some of their struggles to get pegnant, their loss and hardships. If you haven't watched their video, don't make assumptions about my sensitivity. And even if I am sensitive, so the fuck what? Get a therapist.

[@camille1324]

@@talienatte5557 why in the world would you feel the need to share this thought? Feeling unpleasant today, are we?

[@rowancook4369]

imo, as long as the child is not physically present, it's not inherently exploitative. or if the child is present but the video is strictly meant to be educational/to give genuine advice, it's not inherently exploitative. from how you describe them and their vids, they don't seem to be making these videos with the intent to make money, rather out of genuine excitement and joy to have a child. i think that's the main difference between "being a KZbinr who is a mom and talks about it" and being a "mommy blogger"--the content has to come from a place of sincerity and joy, not out of greed.

[@abiw9999]

@@rowancook4369 from the bits I've seen they don't show their babies face

[@user-es7ui5mc1m]

I personally think Jessica and Claudia are doing a great job of not revealing too much of their baby's life but still talking about their experiences. That being said, I've seen quite a few people argue that not showing a child's face isn't enough (as a youtuber/blogger) to protect them/their privacy. If you are showing the nursery/bedroom for example, you are still invading the child's privacy without their consent. This obviously is not as big a factor when the child is still a baby (and doesn't really have their own personality/likes and dislikes) but changes once they get a bit older. People also know the child's name and if you're from the area, you could probably figure out the park they go to. Now think about it like this: If they do show the room in the future once the child is a bit older (and there are toys of the child's favourite cartoon or whatever), someone could roughly figure out the area that they live in, the child's full name and likes/dislikes and what their room looks like - all without ever seeing their face. I'm not saying that it is necessarily exploitative but it is quite scary for me (as someone who does not share their full name on social media anywhere - and I am a grown adult who can decide this on my own and understand the implications of sharing my name).

[@sydneyb5581]

My aunt is a mommy blogger on Instagram and when we go to her house it’s really awkward because she’s just loving people and her kids for photos. Her kids are also very into it almost remind me of actors when she starts filming them. She films them during tantrums and them talks about their behavior to all of her followers

[@Daggeira]

On the plus side, KZbin has policies in place for removing content if it uses your image without permission. (I know this first-hand from being locked out of an account and wanting one of its videos taken down). Later in life, the videos _could_ be removed, at the very least.

[@annakepes8050]

Its still rough knowing that that many people have seen you as a kid

[@Daggeira]

@@annakepes8050 For a little while, yeah, but... Have you _seen_ the attention span on most people? Without the content readily available, people would forget that person even existed within a few years lol

[@ayrahzhra]

I wanted to give an example. The tic tac toy family. Who were my whole childhood, adopted a baby boy. They always blured his face and he was rarely in the vlog for over a year, the only time he came in the vlog was just him randomly running around obviously because he is a kid. But the family is really good. They blured their child for a year until they were allowed. They don't film their girls' temper tantrums or anything that's going to be uncomfortable for them once they grow up!

[@cjskindaboring]

The only time I ever really hear about mommy blogging content is when things go horribly wrong (i.e. the Stauffer 'situation') - but I know a lot of sinister stuff can come out of FB groups, especially in regards to new parents going to them for medical advice instead of to a doctor (which is absolutely terrifying imo) and end up getting super dangerous suggestions about how to 'help' their kid.

[@allisonmiller3669]

That and the Daddy of Five situation were both horrific. The 8 passengers was also bizzare.. They use abuse as content and make money off of it. Its really gross.

[@cjskindaboring]

@@allisonmiller3669 I've heard of the 8 Passengers before, but never Daddy of Five... tbf I tend to actively avoid family channels for that very reason. Like you say, abuse as content is both gross and absolutely terrifying.

[@foxwithoutahat]

@@cjskindaboring DOF abused two of their kids and claimed they were pranks

[@cjskindaboring]

@@foxwithoutahat that's absolutely horrifying, and yet, from the little I know about family channels, not entirely surprising (which is somehow even worse).

[@mothmadi_]

@@foxwithoutahat do5 abused nearly all of the kids in their custody in some way with the exception of that one older child, although you could argue that he went through emotional abuse and was manipulated by the dad. the two children who everyone recognized as being abused were just the most obvious. i watched a lot of videos on it once it was over and ive gotta say i hope those "parents" rot. they were horrible.

[@Kim-dl2uk]

I got in a massive fight with my mother because she posted pictures of my daughter online. I want my child to have a choice when it comes to having pictures or anything online and I don't think a 4 year old can consent to anything like that yet. My mother apparently thinks I'm being overdramatic. I hate how normalized it is to put children online, to the point where people get upset and think you're crazy for not wanting pictures of your kids on Facebook

[@aiaesthetics1124]

Your mom has no respect for your boundaries, you deserve better

[@jessicamattes4208]

I dont think it's any coincidence that I've seen some "traditional celebrities," especially those who became famous at a young age, who won't even post pictures of their kids faces on Instagram. You can still see cute pictures of their kids, but they'll only post their backs or something like that.

[@Shadeadder]

I appreciate how you are respectful of "mommy blogging" as a content genre instead of dissing the whole community. I feel like a lot of commentary youtubers are quick to dump on anything made for grown women, so its refreshing to see actual and specific criticism instead of making fun of all mom content.

[@JordanBelding]

"its not like the kid can just drop a why i left my parent video and dip" iconic line

[@Mels0103]

"Oh, I can't wait to FINALLY have a baby of my own! To nurture and care for another human life. To fill the void left in m- oh, I can't make money off of it for a year? Nm."

[@Aly-rv8vp]

My mum used to have a text blog about me and my siblings. It started off as a way for her to cope with the grief of loosing her first child, my older brother. But, when she had me and my three younger siblings, she started to write about us instead. She never wrote our names, just the first letters of our names and she posted pictures of us. She mostly wrote about funny things we said and “wholesome” things we did. And that was fine. But, when I was like seven, the kids who bullied me in school found that blog and “used it” against me. Like they’d bring up things I didn’t believe they knew about me just to scare me. And that’s just from a really small blog my mum had. So, I can’t imagine what the kids who’s entire lives are put on the internet experience.

[@25cbergeron]

I am sorry 😢. I feel your mom probably needed to talk about her grieve but therapy would have been a better and safe outlet for her. Unfortunately therapy can be too expensive or not available in all places.

[@iambean4724]

I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed this “mommy blogger” situation. I personally think it’s nice to share your children and your life, but when the kid becomes the focus of your content it gets weird. Especially so when the kid isn’t even old enough to understand the impact

[@keirorin]

Yeah, I follow a few vloggers who started out as teens and naturally started a family and continued to document their lives (like bubzbeauty?). The ethics of that are also debatable but as long as kids aren’t the main source of profit then I think it’s passable

[@sad_dad]

It’s so strange how people get a kick out of the normalities of life, like being a mom has been a thing for billions of years but for some reason people find such a fascination with the lifestyle of it. I find the mommy channels boring, predictable, repetitive and also weird because they’re basically selling out their child/children which is disgusting to me

[@ellaturkiewicz333]

Agreed!

[@user-zx8jq1uq3i]

As an adopted from Thailand…deeply saddening and hurts my heart 💔

[@DreamsRDriven011]

Casey is personally my favorite internet mommy

[@Kaykokovids]

Tbh I feel bad for the kids in this situation. While I understand their mom doesn't have bad intentions when posting about them as a baby and sharing milestones in early development(talking, potty training, first day of school ect.) Later on in life that child could see that as very embarrassing to be public. And I guess the mom could delete all that later but once its there it can never really be gone gone from the internet yknow??? I'm not against moms showing their child but I do think there has to be a balance. Shoving a camera in your child's face, recoding all of it, and then posting it...idk i feel like there has to be a limit. For both the child and parents sake.

[@human9460]

YES I'm personally interested in the content but most of the time I dislike how the bloggers „treat" (with the camera) their children. I follow one on Insta who has a younger child (around 1,5-2 yo) and gave birth again few days ago. She always censores her child's face and that's something I really appreciate. You can still talk about parenting and your kids even if you're not showing their faces

[@didntevenchoosethisfont141]

I think we need to remember that the origins of the mommy blogging and vlogging started with seeking out community also. New mom's are very isolated and seeking connection other than just their babies. You see mom groups form and if you are in a place where you have no circle or connections in your town, like you recently moved, posting online would be the initial connection. However, the way it has morphed is SUPER insidious and very far from the original beginnings.

[@abbysc417]

@@talienatte5557 easier said than done, especially in a pandemic

[@oceanmelody3783]

having thousands of strangers watch you go through the most embarrassing years of your life cannot be good fora child's mental health

[@welpppppppppppppp]

i seriously worry for kids that spend their daily life essentially “working”- there’s no boundaries for them, they can’t know what’s for content and what’s their offline life

[@thelonleyUchiha1]

I feel like a lot of Mommy bloggers tend to push the stereotype of the “perfect suburban mom who’s got perfect kids and a perfect aesthetic life” when that’s never the case so they try to hide the parts that arnt so perfect despite a lot of them claiming these are tips to help other parents. Also if a lot of money is involved then a mom usually is more willing to do some pretty awful shit to keep that illusion (even more than just putting the kids online) ala Nikki Philippi/Mika Stauffer which is down right terrifying when a mom starts to only see her children as ways to make money

[@Pharm2be]

Fun fact: I’m from a large family and we had so many opportunities to be on tv and at the time I was so mad that my parents refused but now as an adult I’m so so glad that they protected us.

[@miguelstarboy5572]

I don't even feel comfortable sharing my baby and family pics with strangers so being one of those kids having every detail of their life online would be literally my nightmare

[@aname4700]

that law about not filming your adopted child for a year is great, too many adopted kids are seen as toys or cute accessories and used by their parents just for that. If Thailand had to install that law I'm sure it's because there was an alarming amount of cases like that

[@sarahdemarrero3520]

As a new mom, I just want to recommend a channel that's genuinely helpful and doesn't exploit kids. Jess Hover. She gives great practical advice while respecting her kids. It's more "how-to mom." Not "look at my kids"

[@flagepage]

I really liked they you pointed out that the mommy blogging genre on KZbin might be helpful for moms out there who don’t have anyone in their life who has experience with having/raising children. There’s good and bad sides to most things, mommy vloggers included. 💕

[@ley8443]

i just always feel like theres something bad or fishy going on behind the scenes when i think of mommy vlog videos. gaslighting the children is the first that comes to mind

[@ezzrin]

you’ve been killing it lately w these videos love it bestie

[@Alexis-Hale]

I used to watch mommy vloggers wen I was a kid in foster care cause I had bad mommy issues and it made me feel happy seeing a sweet mom doing stuff for or with their kids 🥸

[@ccrmag]

good lord I was shook by Nikki Phillippi stopping the adoption process. That baby is SO LUCKY. They literally dodged a bullet. The fact that she stopped just for the reasons of not BLOGGING about them is insane and heartless and selfish OMG MY BLOOD IS BOILING!!

[@ayannabranchcomb7535]

I just don’t understand why its so hard to be a parent channel without showing your kids all the time…..once in a while is cool but you can easily give advice, tips, share stories etc without pimping the kid out

[@er_wheathins9253]

I only wish that you had gone further into the dark side of the Daddyofive since you used clips of them in this video- considering they no longer have custody of the kids or KZbin channels! Loved this video still and love your takes ❤️

[@erikdaniels0n]

You could make a whole ass movie length documentary, multiple documentaries even, about Daddyofive. Those two parents are monsters

[@factsandlogic.8762]

are there any documentaries abt them? i heard they were awful but i have no clue what happened

[@daisyelizabeth5462]

@@factsandlogic.8762 the right opinion made an hourish long video documenting what happened, his videos are very produced as a nice additive. just search up tro daddy o five and it should be the first thing up

[@mothmadi_]

@@factsandlogic.8762 if you search up daddyofive and filter to only show 20+ minute videos plenty comes up. nerd city and the right opinion both have lengthy videos on it and sylvibot has a 1 and a half hour video. check the recommended videos of those too

[@Cat-sw3jn]

I'm not a fan of family vlogging; however I did watch a lot of uk-based C-section videos when I found I had to have a planned C-section with my first baby. I didn't know anyone who had a C-section, let alone anyone in the UK and I was grateful for the 30+ minute long videos that went into great details. I always recommend a couple to pregnant friends so they can prepare in case they have an emergency C-section. I ended up having an emergency C-section with second baby and was so grateful for all the videos I had watched about the emergency ones in particular.

[@AwetisticGamerGirl]

I am a mother of 3, almost four hehe, and I love when moms make content of THEMSELVES.. and being a mom but not including their children. I can’t even fathom putting my children’s lives, images, videos of them or anything like that on the internet when they are nowhere near old enough to understand consenting to it and I did not have them to make them my JOB. It just.. it rubs me the wrong way.

[@AwetisticGamerGirl]

Also you can’t make content with your kids and just completely ignore that a lot of the views and audience, enough of a percentage to be alarming is in fact pedophiles.. I wouldn’t want one looking at my kids let alone 10, 100 or thousands.. the whole thing just grosses me out all around.

[@miagrace962]

As someone who is the child of the first wave of mommy blogging (on an actual blog) in the 2000s, looking back at images of myself attached to thousands of comments from other moms and followers critiquing my behaviour, appearance as a literal toddler definitely had an impact on me. I get so embarrassed when anyone finds the blog and mentions it to me - I can't imagine what it would be like for these kids on youtube who have a much higher level of fame.

[@wackykookykatie]

A certain BREED of clown - that line killed me, I'm keeping it.

[@renmakesthings8106]

Honestly if we could just pass a law that makes children appearing in KZbin videos classified as child actors I think the problem is basically gone

[@shlynroy8361]

I think if the kid isn't shown and it's just the mom talking about like how to pick out a good car-seat then I don't think it's a problem. As soon as you start filming and posting the kid tho that's when things get concerning.

[@mexiaznann]

I noticed so many DIY/crafting bloggers have now become “lifestyle” vloggers as people became more interested in the people rather than the content. I look at Studio DIY, her and her husband diversified their content when they got engaged, married, shared their infertility story and then adopted their son. I loved following their journey, but more & more of their followers were beginning to wonder what happened to the crafting that her blog had always been about. I believe she did address her business had now become her life essentially, and all the sponsors they were getting were more family friendly. They recently made the decision to stop sharing images of their son and I see they don’t discuss him as much on their pages, but it is very fascinating to see how blogs transform as people’s personal lives start to change. I am now waiting to see how Jenn IM’s channel changed as she is currently pregnant. A channel that had originally started as a fashion channel became a lifestyle channel

[@shannonrains1833]

I have to say, as a new mom during covid the mom videos are SO HELPFUL and I've been so grateful for them. It's important to have the ethical conversations but also don't discount the benefits.

[@sha8photo]

As someone who is expecting, I’m not interested in vlog content, I’m interested in ‘tips’ videos and I’m most comfortable if I never see their baby’s face. I think that falls in the middle ground of providing valuable resources to those of us with NO CLUE WHAT WE ARE DOING and also protecting the baby’s anonymity 💛

[@starsINSPACE]

Hollywood told us a Truman show scenario was what to watch out for when mommy vloggers were the real dystopian future we could have prevented 🤔

[@nathanscore]

i'm autistic and i'm already broken inside in so many ways because of how difficult life as a disabled and mentally ill person is and has been growing up, but bro if a family had adopted me as a baby to make bank but then got rid of me because it was too hard to raise me and they weren't getting enough money, all that on the internet with my identity and face known by millions of people, i can't even imagine how beyond broken i'd be. this is more than traumatizing and i'm genuinely afraid that the child will not survive this.

[@Kiki-xd3sn]

I live in Germany and there was a TV special about this. Conclusion many of the creators are breaking child Labour laws (like working hrs, right to privacy, separation between work and home, revenue sharing). However, they get away with it because officials can’t keep up with the caseload.

[@genericfirstname]

I'm a middle/high school teacher and I always wonder at what point are parents going to hand over kids' online identities. Parents don't stop posting once a child has gone to school but we know that children as young as 8 are bullied about their identities and tweens are body conscious. I think it's a big issue socially.

[@xx-gv5ky]

i'm so glad you made a video on this and i hope more commentary youtubers and just ppl in general who have platforms would speak up about this phenomenon because it's starting to become an industry that relies on the exploitation of children who cannot consent to being in content like this.

[@angelvomit777]

You bring up an amazing point that so many folks don’t think about because of the fact that they see their kids as an extension of themselves. Give it another 10 or so years and it will be extremely obvious that we’ve messed up an entire generation of kids like this.

[@drumaboy70]

Great video as always Casey, I love your content always very well thought out and on unique topics. You're awesome!

[@RaeCrazyGaming]

This is a slightly different style to your usual videos but I really enjoyed it! It was a little more serious with a bigger focus on analysis and thr debates/ nuances surrounding that imo which was cool! Great vid Casey!

[@Naixatloz]

Mommy blogging is actually a pretty big topic in a lot of disability communities, like autism. Imagine all the normal issues that can come out of your entire childhood being meticulously documented online, but on top of that you're having intimate details of your stigmatized medical condition shared with strangers... and a lot of times, those mommy bloggers are hella ableist and are not framing their kids in a good light at all. You've heard of autism moms? The kind who make their child's autism all about themselves and constantly complain about having a disabled child? Imagine one of those with a sizable platform. It's far from unheard of for them to, like, film their child's meltdowns and other extremely vulnerable moments, and post them online to show what a "struggle" and "burden" it is to exist in this disabled child's presence.

[@corridawn3851]

I personally think it's fine if their children aren't their main source of income, they're private about their location, don't share embarrassing details, and stop once the child is old enough to tell them they don't wanna be in videos anymore. but there have been extremely exploitative moms using their children for monetary gain. I cringe so bad every time I think about that video of the mom making her child cry for the camera instead of comforting them when they were actually crying.