In this day and age of digital-first everything, kid influencers or “kidfluencers” are becoming brand names before they’ve even entered high school. With millions of fans and endorsements from big-name brands, it might seem like a fairy-tale existence. But Netflix’s thought-provoking documentary “Bad Influence: The Dark Side of kidfluencing” paints a much darker picture unfolding behind the carefully crafted thumbnails and viral challenges.
The Rise and Risk of YouTube Fame for Kids
The series delves into the life of Piper Rockelle, a teenager YouTuber who became popular with her DIY “Squad,” a collection of other kids shooting skits, pranks, and relationship-typed content. At one point, Rockelle’s channel allegedly brought in more than half a million dollars a month. But the veneer of success covered a seriously unhealthy atmosphere supposedly dictated by her manager and mother, Tiffany Smith.
Former members of Smith’s Squad claim that Smith dictated their work schedules, exposed them to inappropriate and abusive treatment, and worked outside the bounds of child labor laws. The film, directed by Kief Davidson and Jenna Rosher, deconstructs these accusations through first-hand interviews and legal background, illuminating an industry that is essentially unregulated.
A Space Without Safety Nets
Unlike film or television, where child labor laws impose boundaries and mandate studio teachers and trust accounts, influencer culture lives in a legal gray area. Most social media videos are shot in homes, not on sets. There is no fixed supervision, no entourage of adults, and frequently, no boundaries.
The documentary explains how the quest for fame and fortune can warp the adult-child relationship. Children, sometimes led by their own parents, are encouraged to be constantly online in order to stay “relevant.” It’s a world where children are supposed to behave like adults, produce content like professionals, and at the same time experience childhood, all under the scrutiny of an audience where, as the film states, more than 90% of teen girl influencer followers are adult men.
Real Stories, Real Consequences
It took the producers months to gain the trust of the involved families. Standby therapists were interviewed, along with present parents, in order to give the tellers of their trauma emotional safety. For most of the ex-kidfluencers, talking wasn’t about revenge; it was about keeping other children safe from a system that had let them down.
Bad Influence doesn’t merely present one narrative; it initiates an essential dialogue on responsibility, online parenting, and the cost to children of online fame.
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