Should Kids Be Allowed To Be Social Media Influencers?
Should children be able to be influencers on social media? Children are a big part of the population, and more and more these days, they want to be influencers because they see influencers all the time on social media. I think children can be influencers because people who use social media are teens and children. Teenagers and children are on social media a lot every day. With the amount of time they spend on social media, it would be good for them to learn how to actually do something on there, like being an influencer. Being an influencer could also set them up for the future if they are making money, which a lot of them do.
Being an influencer obviously will make some money, since it is a job. But, how much do they make, and more importantly, how much do children influencers make? Well, according to The New York Times, even an influencer with a small following earns around $600 per post. Bigger influencers can earn around $10,000 to $20,000. Six hundred dollars a post is already a good amount. If you post everyday, then, you would be earning $600 a day, which if you start making from a young age, could help you in the future with things like: going to college, buying a car, or even purchasing a house. This not only helps the child, but also the parents, as they will have extra financial support from the children if needed.
Ninety percent of children and teens use social media and of that 90%, they are on social media for an average of 4.1 hours a day. That is one sixth of an entire day. With the amount that they are on social media, they should at least learn how to use it as a job.
So many kids watch different influencers. Even from the age of around seven, I was watching different people on YouTube like Logan Paul. The thing about these influencers is that most of them do stuff that is really easy to do. For example, the very popular influencer, Charli D’Amelio, who has a following of 152 million followers, started by just doing simple dances. She still posts videos of her dancing to this day, but just from that, she is one of the most successful influencers ever. Dancing is something that is extremely popular on social media, so if that’s what children are watching, then why don’t they just make videos of dancing? I mean, it’s something you can do at home, and along the way, you’d learn how to use technology even better, like how to edit sound and videos. Plus, if you stay consistent, you could become pretty successful.
Some people might say that kids shouldn’t be influencers because their privacy is being exposed. This is a valid argument, as there are many cases of children getting their privacy exposed by their parents because their parents are making videos with the children, who are being exploited for money. While this is a fairly big problem, they are making laws to protect kids’ privacy on social media. On September 15, 2022, California was the first state that passed a law that regulates online activity for all children under the age of 18. Obviously, this isn’t going to protect 100% of all children on social media, but it will be more regulated.
Being able to make money from something that is fairly easy to do should be allowed for any age. While there might be a few concerns on privacy, overall it’s gotten better. Being a kid shouldn’t stop them from being able to pursue a career that they see other people doing all the time, and people should support it more.
