the sick and twisted reality of mommy blogging

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!

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[justjulie]

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

[kelseyspolejourney]

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?

[melissabailey]

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.

[littlesiha]

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

[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 :/

[spaghettimist]

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.

[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

[alextheasparagus]

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)

[gracejuice]

can't believe casey jumped into the sea to film her sponsor section. so dedicated <3

[aryswheel]

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

[AB-hvwb]

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

[vaibhavirai]

"...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! 👍

[jaelk]

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

[juliettefranks]

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

[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

[lunaxavia]

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.

[geekxlove]

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.

[sabbath]

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.

[JesseCourtJester]

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

[gwendolynhogan]

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