Kid influencer

A kid influencer is someone under the age of 18 who has built or is building a presence on social media platforms[1] creating content to generate views and engagements, that is often sponsored.

[4] The rise of this kind of advertising has raised many ethical and legal questions, especially since most of these influencers main fan bases are young children.

[6] When that space flourished, brands started picking up child actors to appear as spokespeople in commercials and paper ads, such as Shirley Temple for Royal Crown Cola in 1944.

[7] In 1940, when television entered the homes of families across the nation, some of the earliest programming was directed at child viewers, including after-school and Saturday morning shows, to help keep kids entertained when the parents were consumed by other tasks.

[8] Between the 1940s and 1950s, as these child-directed shows flourished, advertising took to the silver screen and often featured the same child actors that starred in the popular shows, like Miss France's Ding Dong School and Rootie Kazootie, who would interrupt programming to deliver commercial messages which reduced the lack of clarity between what was programming and what was an advertisement.

Brands wanted to communicate the relatability of unknown actors who looked and acted like the kids they were targeting, to establish a sense of resemblance which then would turn into desire to have the product.

Blending the lines of stardom and relatability, child influencers create a different kind of relationship with their audience that is close knit and connected which they are constantly trying to nurture and grow.

Brands recognized the potential of how powerful a child's influence actually is and acted on the opportunity to tap into their audience to make profits.

This can be overwhelming, and the creator may look to find an agent who specializes in influencer marketing to help manage their brand.

The demand for kid-specialized agents has grown as fully dedicated companies like PocketWatch have completely narrowed their scope to only working with child influencers/stars.

Parents and guardians of kid influencers have received criticism from child rights advocates and psychologists due to the unknown nature of the internet and the lack of transparency on sponsored posts.

[7] In 2019, watchdog agency Truth in Advertising (TINA) filed a deceptive advertising complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against Ryan Kaji, asking the organization to review the influential marketing tactics he was using to promote products to his young audience, as TINA believed he was using deceptive marketing tactics against his vulnerable audience.

[10] There are many sides to the argument, but all can agree that there needs to be a discussion about teaching media literacy to children if they are going to be navigating the internet alone.

[13] These children cannot consent to being broadcast online either since they are just doing what their parents ask, and since they are growing up in the world of social media they think it is normal.

There is, however, a bill is currently in committee that will is supposed to "Protecting the interests of minor children featured on for-profit family vlogs.