“Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online” by Fortesa Latifi
2026/Gallery Books
$30/275 pages
Back when she was a first-time mother, Fortesa Latifi often felt like she was flailing. Desperate for advice, she sought comfort online and found a community of “mommy bloggers,” writers who got her through the rough times.
Mommy bloggers are rather rare today. Many have become Instagram and TikTok vloggers because there’s more money to be made on those platforms. Latifi says Goldman Sachs Research predicts that “the creator economy [could] reach $480 billion by 2027.”
But at what cost? For some of the most-followed vlogging families, their camera is always-on and few things are off-limits; physically sick kids, potty training, and diaper videos are all fair game.
It might embarrass the kids now or later, but some children like the notoriety and fame; some even have their own Instagram or TikTok
accounts with thousands of followers. And besides, chaos, mean pranks and family challenges make more money.
So where is the line? Latifi spoke to many former mommy vloggers who expressed deep regrets. And yet, many continue with no regrets. “And how could there be?” Latifi asks. Some vloggers are “making over a million dollars a year.”
Latifi’s critiques are fair and thoughtful, but she sometimes dives too deeply into individual vloggers’ works in descriptions that can become uncomfortable to read.
“Like, Follow, Subscribe” doesn’t blow the top off the vlogging industry, but it eases the lid aside and that’s a big thumbs-up.
