Why do parents turn their kids into influencers?
This Is Uncomfortable
Marketplace
4.6 • 3.6K Ratings
🗓️ 9 April 2026
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Would you share your children’s most intimate moments on social media if it meant you could make millions? Family influencers are building businesses around their kids, sharing everything from toddler meltdowns to puberty talks. For some families, that income is a lifeline. But it also raises difficult questions about privacy, money and parenthood.
Reema talks with journalist Fortesa Latifi about her new book, “Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online.”
Plus, we want to hear from you: as child care costs keep rising, have you or your partner considered becoming a stay-at-home parent? If so, what kind of financial factors are going into that decision? Let us know by calling 347-RING-TIU or emailing uncomfortable@marketplace.org
Transcript
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| 0:27.5 | just in the race. You're built to win it. When I was younger, maybe like 18 or 19, there was a stretch |
| 0:33.5 | of time where I had this nightly routine. I'd get in bed, open YouTube, and I'd watch |
| 0:38.6 | the latest vlog from Shay Carl and his family. Their channel was called, I'm cringing as I say this, |
| 0:44.6 | Shaytards. |
| 0:45.5 | You are now watching the Shaytards Christmas. Sit back, relax. You don't want to miss this. |
| 0:53.2 | Shea Carl and his wife Collette filmed their daily life with their five kids, the vacations, the inside jokes, even the most mundane moments like running errands. |
| 1:01.3 | All right, we start today out in a pet store. |
| 1:03.6 | We just got done doing CrossFit, then we went and got a jamba juice. |
| 1:06.8 | There was something almost addictive about knowing these really intimate details about another family. |
| 1:12.3 | It kind of felt like I was peering through a window into their lives. |
| 1:15.4 | They were early family influencers, before we really had a name for that. |
| 1:19.4 | I don't really follow family influencers these days, but when they come across my feed, |
| 1:23.3 | I have a really hard time looking away. |
| 1:25.2 | The details they share have become even more intimate, |
| 1:27.7 | everything from potty training to puberty to their kids' mental health struggles. |
| 1:32.1 | What used to feel like looking in from the outside |
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