Now at days, new generations are more immersed in technologies, children know how to use cell phones at an early age and there are more ways to keep them entertained in virtual environments. Youtube, is not strange to this «technological boom», more children are participating in this platform not only as watchers but as content creators. Even children between 3 and 10 years consider being a «YouTuber» or «influencer» as a profession.
One of the most striking cases is Ryan Kaji, an American boy of only 8 years old who uploads videos reviewing toys to his channel «Ryan’s World» since he was 3 years old. Thanks to this platform, he had reached an income of 26 million dollars making him one of the best-paid YouTubers according to Forbes. But, although the platform allows them to receive remuneration as minors, there are risks for being exposed on the Internet. Fame can be stressful for young children who must please their followers, and in some cases, they are victims of bullying by Internet trolls.
Because of this overexposure, children leave a virtual print at a very young age. When they upload videos that could reach all parts of the world, they can receive comments based on their success or failure that will accompany them during their adolescence, adult and professional life. Even though YouTube has a new policy that disables comments on videos starring minors or aimed for children, they could still get the personal social media of the children involved and send them hate messages. Children under 12 think more concretely and don’t measure the consequences of their actions. This makes kids ‘YouTubers’ see the activity as a game. For this reason, it is necessary for parents to monitor the content that their children upload as it is a network that leaves them vulnerable to the eyes of everyone.