Youtube Families: Good or Bad?
This week's chapter got me thinking about the many negatives of YouTube that have been coming to light recently. Many controversies surround families that exploit their children on YouTube for views. These families film every aspect of their lives and post it as a family vlog. This may seem harmless but some families take it to the next level. They film their children in moments of vulnerability that should have been dealt with off-camera. Every bad day being posted for the world to see can alter a child's formative years.
Additionally, it can be dangerous for these children to have so much information about them on the internet. The families often post full names, school information, ages and heights. It's a horrible thought but some people would take this information and use it to take advantage of them.
Occasionally, the fame gets to the heads of the parents and causes them to make decisions for the betterment of their channel rather than the betterment of their family. One extreme case of this happened with the YouTube channel called 8 Passengers.
This channel was created by a woman named Ruby Franke. It centered around her, her husband and their six kids. However as they gained popularity the videos started to have a sinister undertone. The children were often shown as extremely upset or receiving untraditional punishments such as having beds or meals taken away for small grievances. The eldest son was even sent away to a wilderness camp and came back a completely different kid. It was later discovered that Ruby had been abusing the two youngest children after she joined a cult revolving around disciplining children. She is now a convicted felon with her main opposing witness being her eldest daughter.
There are many cases like this one that show children growing up damaged or traumatized from family vlogging. It raises the question of whether there should be stricter parameters surrounding children on social media and YouTube. We as a society need to do a better job of recognizing these signs and stepping in earlier to protect the children.
It’s honestly shocking to hear some of the stories that are coming out about the behind-the-scenes lives of these YouTube families. It’s heartbreaking to think about the kids who are put in situations where they’re expected to perform or be on camera when they’d probably rather just live their lives like any other child. The pressure they must feel to constantly be in the spotlight, all for the sake of content, seems unfair, and it's difficult to imagine the emotional toll it takes on them.
ReplyDeleteIt's one thing to record fun things your kids are doing, but it's not right for these parents to record every little part of their kid's lives. I can't imagine being a kid who is constantly having a camera shoved in their face, knowing that anyone in the world would be able to watch what you are doing. It's even worse that their own parents are the ones doing it to them.
ReplyDeleteI remember watching this one creator who did skits based on these families and how the kids were always manipulated and forced to put on these personas for these videos. I feel like half the time, they aren't even real and all of it is a facade. It is really sad how parents start using their kids for popularity, fame and money. Not to say all of these family creators are like this, but you just never know what is going on behind the scenes.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing their videos and when the case came out it was all over Tik Tok. It is sad to see what people will do to their families just to gain fame on a platform.
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