I can’t see a single legitimate reason to put children online for general public consumption. Film your trip to Disney and share with Grandma? Yes. Post it on a private family or friends platform? Sure. But posting it for indiscriminate public entertainment? In what scenario is this not exploitative? Whether it’s done to entertain and retain existing followers, grow follower count, garner clicks, shares, comments and likes, satisfy the terms of an influencer marketing agreement, or “instruct” viewers on “parenting techniques” (eyeroll) it is fundamentally exploitative.

I don’t believe that every parent doing this is deliberately trying to exploit their kids. Many are just thoughtlessly following along because “everybody does it.” Some will try to justify it by claiming it “feeds their family” which should never be a child’s responsibility. Or claiming the kids “really enjoy it” when they can’t cognitively conceive of what “it” actually entails. Sadly, it’s become the norm. You’re doing important work by highlighting how wrong it is.