Do People Have Kids Just for Online Content? It Sure Seems Like It

As long as YouTube has been around, there have been family YouTubers vlogging their seemingly everyday lives as parents. This content niche has only amplified with TikTok.

We aren't here to pass judgment on anyone because we understand the business decision that probably goes into showing their kids. After all, kids equal views, and views equal money, and college is expensive.

However, one TikTok content creator is questioning if people have kids just for content. Let's unpack this.

TikToker @whomamagonecheckme2, who we will now be referring to as Mama, posted a video calling out people for having kids just so that they can make content with them.

The video opens with Mama reacting to videos that other content creators have posted with their newborn babies. To be honest, she's saying what many people having been thinking for years.

Mama then states very passionately, "I've never seen a family vlogger that wasn't abusing their kids behind the scenes. What are you doing behind the cameras? I'm convinced a lot of y'all had kids just for content. If I had a kid, which I won't, y'all would never see it. Never. I'm so glad they're making laws against family bloggers nowadays because this is getting out of hand."

The very first clip that is in Mama's video reads, "Miyas 1st day out of the NICU," and shows a father holding his tiny baby with one had in Target. At least this father is being useful on a shopping trip, but the whole scenario is questionable given that the newborn just got out of the NICU. Honestly, who even holds a baby like that in the first place?

This video is by TikTokers Alix Blahnik and Stephen Lomas, who have 1.3 million followers. Despite their popularity, they received much backlash for that video resurfacing, so much so that they put out an apology on TikTok.

In the apology, Stephen says, "I just want to quickly hop on here and apologize to all the young moms and healthcare workers that I scared from a recent post. The way that I picked up Miya is a way to pick up a baby...arguably and in fact is the wrong way to pick up a baby and I wanted to promise to you all that I will never pick her up like that again."

Mama also mentioned in her TikTok a couple that adopted an Asian boy and then "returned him to the foster home" because "they couldn't post him." The couple Mama is referring to is actually Nikki and Dan Phillippi who have a very popular YouTube page. They took to their own channel to address the latter issue themselves.

In the video, they say that before they even officially adopted a child, they were told that Thailand has a law where they are, "Not allowed to talk about them or share any images, photos, videos, anything about them online for a year."

Since the couple basically documents their whole life, they decided not to go through with the adoption. It probably would have been wise for them to iron out all the details and do more research ahead of time. Returning the child definitely wasn't a good look for them.

And what about the new laws protecting kids on social media? Well, Illinois is actually the first state to pass a law making sure that kids are compensated.

Fortune reports that the law "will entitle child influencers to a percentage of earnings based on how often they appear on video blogs or online content that generates at least 10 cents per view. To qualify, the content must be created in Illinois, and kids would have to be featured in at least 30 percent of the content in a 30-day period."

We are glad steps are being made to make sure these kids are being compensated for sharing their lives online. And as far as the parenting skills go? No comment.