How Being Raised by Family Vloggers Ruined this Woman’s Home Life

Shannon Quinn - December 5, 2022
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How Being Raised by Family Vloggers Ruined this Woman’s Home Life
Imagine being on camera every day from the time you were a baby. Credit: Shutterstock

There May Not Be a “Healthy” Way to do Family Vlogging

Someone commented, “I have always been uncomfortable with the idea of family vlogging. It definitely results in the child’s emotional needs not being met and most of the time, exploited. I know there is a healthy right way of doing it, but I barely see that being practiced.” She responded, “I don’t think there is really a healthy way of doing it, to be honest. Because of family vlogging, I’ve been in therapy as a result of this for years. I find it hard knowing I didn’t consent to my entire life being shared online forever. My parents have tried to erase everything, but they can’t erase the entire internet. So it’s still out there.”

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These parents didn’t care if the kids would get upset about being filmed. Credit: Shutterstock

The Parents Ignored Their Children’s Pleas to Stop Vlogging

A commenter asked, “Did your parents listen to you at first when you expressed not wanting them to continue on YouTube or did they completely force you to be on camera even then?” She responded, “They didn’t listen. We probably told them hourly how much we hated it.” It’s truly sad when parents don’t listen to their children’s desires. Some parents treat their kids like objects, as if they aren’t capable of feeling and making decisions on their own. It’s important for parents to respect their kid’s wishes, if they want to have a relationship with them later in life. These parents are going to be sorry one day when they’re left alone in a nursing home.

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Legally changing her name may be one of the only ways to protect her privacy. Credit: Shutterstock

Privacy Concerns Are So Extreme, She Needs to Change Her Name

A commenter said, “Maybe at some point you could consider legally changing your name to give you a little more privacy.” She responded, “I plan to when I turn 18.” On top of that, she explained that she already goes by another name in order to give herself a new identity. She also uses a social media account that doesn’t have her real name on it. Hopefully, she can move somewhere that she won’t be recognized as often. And as she gets older, her features will change. Hopefully fewer people will recognize her face as she ages.

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Viewers often can’t mentally tell the difference between a fictional character and a reality star. Credit: Shutterstock

People Saw Her Life as a Fantasy

Unfortunately, a lot of people who watch family vlogs seem to forget that these are real people. They treat them the same as watching characters in a TV series. Someone commented, “My mom (who is elderly) watches an Australian family all the time. Maybe I should let her read this… or just leave it be and not mess with the “fantasy”? The original poster replied, “I think that’s a huge part of it. People consume content on YouTube in the exact same way they consume content on Netflix so although they consciously know they’re watching real people’s lives, their brains can’t always make the distinction. Parasocial relationships are terrifying, I cannot physically emphasize that enough”

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This person was so traumatized, she believes parents should not be allowed to family vlog. Credit: Shutterstock

She Believes Filming Your Kids Should Be Illegal

There are multiple comments asking the OP if she believes family vlogging should be illegal. She responded several times saying that she absolutely believes that it needs to be against the law. She wrote, “I truly believe no changes will be made until a child is killed as a result of their parents oversharing online. It shouldn’t have to get to that point”. Right now, it’s completely legal for people to post photos and videos of their kids online, regardless of how their kids feel about it. As long as they are minors, they really have very little say as to what their parents are doing.

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People recognize this girl every single day, and she never feels safe because of it. Credit: Shutterstock

She Will Never Feel Safe

Someone commented, “After a lifetime of that, how do you feel about social media now? Do you feel safer now? I am so furious at any and all parents or people that choose to share every aspect of lives of people who do not consent. Just no.” She responded, “I don’t think I’ll ever feel safe if I’m being honest. But I feel fairly safe online, because all my accounts are private and not in my name. In the real world though, I don’t feel safe. I still live in constant paranoia that I’m being watched. And I can’t sleep alone because I know people know where I live. I don’t like people knowing who I am.” In a later post, someone asked OP how often she gets recognized, and she said it happens daily.

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This mother may have been addicted to social media and filming for the vlog. Credit: Shutterstock

She Compared Vlogging to an Addiction

One of the commenters said, “I can’t imagine having parents that just blast their and your whole life online. That must be some kind of mental disorder right?” She replied, “Think it’s an addiction just like anything else really. My mom grew up in poverty with an alcoholic father. She thought that by throwing money at us we’d have a better life than she did. In reality she just replaced one trauma with another” According to Orlando Recovery, Children of addicts are eight times more likely to develop an addiction. In this case, this woman may not have been an alcoholic, but she was clearly addicted to vlogging. It didn’t matter how much it was hurting her family. She was addicted to the money, and the dopamine rush that you get from views and YouTube comments.

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Vlogging tore this family apart, to the point where this girl feels like they are not her true family. Credit: Shutterstock

She Didn’t Feel Like She Had a Real Family

One of the most heartbreaking things the OP said was, “We weren’t a family, we were a group of work colleagues with the same last name”. How tragic is that? Everyone needs a family. I sincerely hope that this person can become close with their grandparents, siblings, and members of their extended family. Hopefully they have some sort of support system around them. And when they get older, she can have a family of her own and finally experience what it’s like to have a “normal” family dynamic off of social media. You can’t choose your family, but you can have a “chosen family” of friends in your inner circle instead.

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