So…My Child Wants to be an Influencer
There was a time when parents would balk about their children announcing that they wanted to be professional musicians, actors, and athletes. While those lofty ambitions still persist, another spotlit goal has entered the picture – becoming a social media influencer. For parents who aren’t entirely clear about what that means, allow us to explain. A social media influencer is an individual with a strong online presence, projecting credibility in a specific niche such as fashion, travel, tech, or fitness, et cetera. They use platforms like YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok to build and sustain a dedicated following. Their strong online presence has a trend-setting impact on their audience’s opinions, behaviors, and purchasing decisions.
The career part of it kicks in when the influencer receives income through paid brand partnerships. Technically, an adolescent in Canada can become an independent influencer at the age of 13, which is the minimum allowable age on the previously mentioned social networks, although there are some very successful influencers under the age of 13. The latter is allowed when profiles/channels are managed and curated by a parent or legal guardian. According to recent surveys (here’s one) anywhere between 25% to 33% (depending on the platform) Canadian/North American adolescents aspire to be social media influencers. It has surpassed traditional career aspirations such as being a doctor (15%) or teacher (14%).
As a parent who has recently been informed at the latest family meeting that your age-appropriate child wants to chase the same dream as tens of thousands of other Canadian kids – beginning today – you are somewhat flummoxed. You may be OK with them currently maintaining social media profiles where they engage with classmates, friends, and family, but you’re concerned about them attempting to reach a wider audience. You are well aware of the potential negative mental and behavioral health impacts of social media among kids. You have also heard that social media was recently banned for kids under 16 years of age in Australia, and why that France just announced the same for citizens under the age of 15. At press, the UK and Canada are both considering similar measures for children aged 15 and 14, respectively.
At the same time, you may have also noted that social media has had a positive impact in some areas for your child, including social connectivity, identity exploration, and the opportunity to showcase their passions and creativity. You also accept that an “influencer” is now an official career designation, and so outright denying your child the opportunity would be akin to telling them that they cannot be a career musician, actor, athlete, or astronaut. All of this is very confusing for a parent who simply wants what’s best for their child. As a result, you have come online and entered “my child wants to be an influencer” into Google or ChatGPT with the hope of finding insight that will help you make a more informed decision. While the issue is complex, our Foundation has a few suggestions that you may find valuable. The following suggestions may allow your child to explore their current ambition, have a positive impact on other kids, and keep everything within your parental comfort zone. Curious? Keep reading!
How to Support Your Age-Appropriate Child’s Dream to be an Influencer in a Way That Supports Their (and their followers) Health and Wellness
Create a Channel / Profile That Promotes Healthy Living for Kids
To minimize the risk of negative mental health consequences, your child should avoid creating an influencer persona (and content) that commonly comes with criticism, unhealthy competition, and cyberbullying related to self-image. The following are the top three content categories teens want to influence in, which can also increase the potential for negative interactions:
- Video gaming
- Beauty and skincare
- Fashion and lifestyle
Instead, encourage your teen to focus on a niche that they have a passion for and that truly promotes healthy living, without content that attracts the attention of cyberbullies. Examples of healthy young influencer categories include the following:
- Planting and gardening
- Baking and cooking with a focus on nutritious foods
- Outdoor recreation that focuses on the activity, not its competitive nature
- Animal and wildlife care
- Care for the environment, such as a weekly beach cleanup (and similar initiatives)
- Arts and culture
- Literature
All of the above are associated with mental health benefits. Creating content of this nature will not only keep them in a healthy space with respect to feelings and emotions, but it will create a legion of followers/subscribers who will be positively impacted by your child’s profiles and channels. This wellness relationship is reciprocal, because helping others is directly associated with increased feelings of happiness.
Give Back by Supporting Causes
As discussed in the introduction, a key component of being an influencer is tangible reward in the form of income and/or branded promotional items. Should your child actually find success in generating brand partnerships or ad revenue, the bulk of this should be put towards their future (college, interest-earning savings accounts, etc.) after portioning for reinvestment in their content creation and an allowance for their hard work. Beyond this, collaborate with your child to come up with a way to support a cause (or causes) that they care about. This support can come in the form of financial donation as a percentage of proceeds they may have earned through influencing. If they have received promotional items from brands, a percentage can be donated to those in need, as long as it doesn’t violate the terms of any agreement with brands. Most companies will love the concept! Adding a charitable element not only supports worthy causes, it adds another layer of altruism to their persona as an influencer, which as addressed in the section above, can have a reciprocal benefit of increased happiness.
The money management aspect also supplements the following strategy for How to Teach Your Kids to Budget, Through Nature.
Parental Supervision Required
Parents who support their child’s ambition to be a young influencer must be prepared to take on the part-time job of overseeing the entire experience. Establish a protocol for what content gets produced, and ensure that you have final approval on all content before it gets posted or shared. Additionally, keep a keen eye on all comments, messages, and engagements to look for signs of concerning interactions. More importantly, let your child know that if at any point in time that there are risks to their wellbeing, that you will step in to pause the profile/channel.
Again, whether or not you should allow your child to attempt to be an influencer at an early (but appropriate) age is a complex issue. But if you do decide to allow it, the above suggestions will point them (and their community) in a positive direction. And if they abandon their wish to become an influencer as they enter post-secondary education they will have developed a number of skills in the process that will reverberate throughout other careers.