Recently, a 17-year-old girl turned to the True Off My Chest subreddit to share how being brought up by family vloggers affected her.

“They started vlogging when I was around 7 and stopped three years ago. I want to hugely avoid speculation as to who my family is so won’t be sharing much more detail. The channel had over 500k subscribers,” the author recounted. The family stopped vlogging due to “a mental health crisis” that happened because of the channel.

However, what remained was the long-lasting trauma the 17-year-old endured back in the vlogging days. In this brutally honest and heartbreaking post, the author listed all the ways it made her life misery in a bid to warn other family vloggers, or anyone considering this career.

A 17-year-old who was brought up by family vloggers shared how it affected her in a heartbreaking post

Image credits: Nathyn Masters (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Fa Barboza (not the actual photo)

Image credits: throwawaylisteners

To find out whether putting children in front of the camera to create content for one’s social media is a good idea from an expert’s perspective, Bored Panda reached out to Anisa Lewis, a positive parenting and life coach who shared some interesting insights about it.

According to Lewis, it is very much a personal choice where the parents need to have considered the risk to themselves or their family against the gains that they get from letting people into their lives. “Once a child gets to an age where you can ask their opinion and views, then I believe a discussion needs to be had as to how they feel about it and if they are happy to have themselves on social media,” the parenting and life coach explained.

However, “personally,” Lewis said, “I have taken a very measured approach to what I put of my family on social channels, if anything. I am the mum of an only child who is now a teenager so if I am referencing something that is going on with my child, it is pretty obvious who I am talking about,” she said.

As for what potential risks this style of parenting may pose to children, Lewis said that this is an interesting question and that the child protection side for her is huge. “Of people knowing where they live and if not the exact location, the area, possibly where the child(ren) go to school, their names when the child is not of an age where they can be taught the risks of stranger danger, etc. There is most definitely a safety risk, which runs into the teen years where they potentially could be coaxed into a situation they are uncomfortable with because of what has been shared about them.”

Moreover, in terms of parenting style and risk, if content is shared with the permission of the child and the parent is open and upfront about what they are doing, how they are sharing and possibly the motivation behind it, then the family is ‘in it together,’ Lewis argues. “There are some wonderful parent bloggers, creators and influencers who show their family in a real but sympathetic way,” she added.

Lewis said that there are so many positives that can be gained from seeing other people’s struggles, the highs and the lows, knowing you are not alone and your family is ‘normal.’ “Personally, I wouldn’t share images of my child sleeping or in a highly emotional state as this, I believe, is showing their vulnerable side and is something very personal that potentially they have had no say in the sharing of it,” the parenting coach concluded and added that she can reference these moments in words but would withhold the image.

The author later shared more details in response to people’s comments

And this is how people reacted

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