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Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online
Not yet published
Expected 7 Apr 26A searing investigation into the child influencer industry and the perils of childhood internet fame, Like, Follow, Subscribe is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the costs of internet fame, and the ethics of online content.
What is it like to grow up with a camera in your face 24/7? To have your childhood moments sold as “content” to millions online? What happens when someone who works in a largely unregulated multi-billion-dollar industry sells away their childhood and has no financial safety net as an adult? What does it feel like to have your private moments—your medical diagnoses, your first period, your first break up, your tantrums, potty-training, and breastfeeding-weaning—broadcast to an audience of millions? Like, Follow, Subscribe shines a spotlight on the deeply troubling world of the child influencer industry.
Journalist Fortesa Latifi dives into the lives of children whose parents mine their everyday activities for monetizable content, exposing issues like privacy violations, financial abuse, and the absence of child labor protections. Through expert interviews with psychologists, labor scientists, and even former child influencers and family vloggers, she uncovers the pressures, trauma, and consequences for children thrust into the spotlight.
This timely and eye-opening book doesn’t just reveal the harm of toxic social media it also provides a roadmap to better regulating influencer families, safeguarding children, and questioning the role of audiences in perpetuating these cycles of exploitation.
What is it like to grow up with a camera in your face 24/7? To have your childhood moments sold as “content” to millions online? What happens when someone who works in a largely unregulated multi-billion-dollar industry sells away their childhood and has no financial safety net as an adult? What does it feel like to have your private moments—your medical diagnoses, your first period, your first break up, your tantrums, potty-training, and breastfeeding-weaning—broadcast to an audience of millions? Like, Follow, Subscribe shines a spotlight on the deeply troubling world of the child influencer industry.
Journalist Fortesa Latifi dives into the lives of children whose parents mine their everyday activities for monetizable content, exposing issues like privacy violations, financial abuse, and the absence of child labor protections. Through expert interviews with psychologists, labor scientists, and even former child influencers and family vloggers, she uncovers the pressures, trauma, and consequences for children thrust into the spotlight.
This timely and eye-opening book doesn’t just reveal the harm of toxic social media it also provides a roadmap to better regulating influencer families, safeguarding children, and questioning the role of audiences in perpetuating these cycles of exploitation.
- GenresNonfiction
288 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication April 7, 2026
257 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 19, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book! Below is my honest review.
What an interesting read. I actually came across this book on Instagram before I saw it on NetGalley, so once I saw it was available to request, I hopped on that train so fast. This side of YouTube always interested me, especially since I, like many other people, grew up watching these types of families who vlogged their lives and families and uploaded it for people to watch. But in recent years, there have been a lot of controversies with these vlogger families and people pulling back from posting so much. The allure of making thousands of dollars for essentially recording your lives and allowing other people to watch is crazy.
I appreciate how we get the perspectives of different people who were impacted by this kind of lifestyle. Some people felt more impacted than others; some people felt blessed and didn’t really feel any negative impacts. The author also touches on legislation for the protection of children in these videos and how it’s not super black and white. It’s interesting how the author basically ends this book with “knowing all this, I would never be part of this lifestyle”. I can see why many people want to become famous this way, but I can also see the harms it has—some are more permanent than others.
Overall, I would recommend this book. It’s easy to read and super interesting
What an interesting read. I actually came across this book on Instagram before I saw it on NetGalley, so once I saw it was available to request, I hopped on that train so fast. This side of YouTube always interested me, especially since I, like many other people, grew up watching these types of families who vlogged their lives and families and uploaded it for people to watch. But in recent years, there have been a lot of controversies with these vlogger families and people pulling back from posting so much. The allure of making thousands of dollars for essentially recording your lives and allowing other people to watch is crazy.
I appreciate how we get the perspectives of different people who were impacted by this kind of lifestyle. Some people felt more impacted than others; some people felt blessed and didn’t really feel any negative impacts. The author also touches on legislation for the protection of children in these videos and how it’s not super black and white. It’s interesting how the author basically ends this book with “knowing all this, I would never be part of this lifestyle”. I can see why many people want to become famous this way, but I can also see the harms it has—some are more permanent than others.
Overall, I would recommend this book. It’s easy to read and super interesting
November 25, 2025
I received a review copy of this book from Edelweiss.
I have always been curious about the kids people watch on the Internet, specifically Ryan of Ryan's World, because my kids watched him when they were little. Latifi's book takes the stories of those kids and meshes them with her own experiences as a new parent. Not only does she report journalistically, interviewing hundreds of people about their own experiences, she delves into the reasons why people want to watch influencer kids and recounts some of the scandals that keep audiences hooked. I feel for those kids, I really do, and Latifi gives us some hope that things are changing for them--new laws and new rights to protect them.
I have always been curious about the kids people watch on the Internet, specifically Ryan of Ryan's World, because my kids watched him when they were little. Latifi's book takes the stories of those kids and meshes them with her own experiences as a new parent. Not only does she report journalistically, interviewing hundreds of people about their own experiences, she delves into the reasons why people want to watch influencer kids and recounts some of the scandals that keep audiences hooked. I feel for those kids, I really do, and Latifi gives us some hope that things are changing for them--new laws and new rights to protect them.
October 13, 2025
a very fair and measured critical look at family vlogging. i honestly didn't expect as much commentary but i thought latifi was remarkably even-minded about it. worth a look
(thanks for the arc S&S)
(thanks for the arc S&S)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews