Center for Persuasive Communication

Influencer Sharenting

The number of social media influencers who try to monetize their underaged child(ren) on social media is on the rise. Idealized images of young and adorable children are omnipresent on influencer accounts as these may not only contribute to the influencer’s authenticity, but also create more engagement among the followers as cuteness attracts. Some mom, dad or family influencers even fully devote their social media channel to their family life and share their parenting experiences with many others. Consequently, their children become micro-micro celebrities themselves as their influencer parents give them exposure and fame through their platforms. Some of those parents even create separate profiles for their children (i.e., kidfluencer profiles) to reach a young audience as well. The popularity of all these influencer profiles is accompanied by a huge stream of income, consisting of diverse monetization strategies (Burroughs & Feller, 2020). As such, influencers gain income from brand sponsorships, ad revenues, merchandise (e.g., own clothing or toy line) or donations.

Sharenting

CEPEC focuses on understanding influencer sharenting from the perspective of both
a)     the creators of that content (e.g. risks for the children depicted in influencer content, understanding the motives and privacy management strategies of the influencer parents) and
b)    the followers of that content (e.g. how it impacts upon the decision-making of the parents and children being exposed to influencer sharenting).

  • Within a valorization project, a team of CEPEC researchers investigated the risks associated with influencer sharenting. Based hereon, we launched the website magditonline.be in May 2022 to inform and sensitize parents on these risks and provide some practical tips on how to avoid these in the future. The website was the headliner of all newscasts that day and received tremendous media attention overall, which is illustrated by the nearly 60 clippings (both online and offline, on the radio as well as tv) covering all Flemish media channels.
  • Within Emma’s junior postdoctoral FWO research project, she investigates how parent influencers affect young parents’ decision-making for their children. Specifically, she investigates whether and how social media influencers are consulted for parenting advice and how their persuasive communication affects prosocial behavior among parents (e.g. adoption of healthy food choices for children or breastfeeding).

This research is currently guided by Emma Beuckels and Liselot Hudders.