With the rapid evolution of the digital media age, more and more of our free time is being consumed by social media platforms including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. Many users engage with these apps primarily as consumers, rarely posting content themselves. Others dedicate a significant amount of time to creating content, sometimes accumulating hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers. 

Over the past decade, this phenomenon has given rise to a new wave of social media personalities known as ‘influencers.’ Some platforms offer creator funds, allowing users, many of whom are influencers, to earn income from their content. Another common revenue stream involves brand partnerships and product promotions.

While TikTok and Instagram focus on short-form content and photo sharing, YouTube stands out as the leading platform for longer-form videos. It hosts a vast array of content, including gaming, reviews, sports, comedy and more. One notable trend over the past decade has been the rise of family channels on YouTube.

Family channels vary in style. Some document daily life through vlogs, while some others participate in viral internet challenges or review products and media. These channels are generally geared toward a young audience, typically children between the ages of 5 and 12, according to YouTube for Families Help.

Choir teacher, Marisa Bergh, is a mom to two daughters, ages six and nine. Her kids use YouTube on a daily basis, but the content they watch is heavily monitored.

“It [content] kind of varies depending on what they’re into. Sometimes it’s the families that have their own channels doing challenges and that kind of stuff,” said Bergh. “I do think that it gives my kids skewed ideas of what is normal. Some of the families have these huge followings, and they’re obviously making money off of their page and have sponsors and stuff, and that’s not normal, you know. That sometimes is hard for the kids to understand.”

According to  a Pew Research study, in 2019, content featuring children under the age of 13 were some of the most viewed videos on YouTube. They averaged around 297 thousand views per video, while those that did not feature children averaged around 97 thousand views per video. 

As mentioned above, content creators are paid by YouTube and various brands for including advertisements and sponsorships in their videos. The amount of money they get from these often depends on the number of views their videos generate. This is a concern, as heightened levels of exposure can heighten children’s chances of falling victim to exploitation. 

“If you are a parent making money off of your page, you’re technically, in a sense, making your kid an employee,” said Bergh. “Are you putting money into an [bank] account for your kids? Or is this just basically exploiting your kids for followers and money?”

Another concern involves the work and time some children are putting into creating content with their families.  

“I’ve heard of some families having these crazy recording schedules, and it’s like these kids shouldn’t have to feel like they have a job,” said Bergh. “Just let them be normal – they shouldn’t have to work.”

Although family channels may seem to post wholesome, kid friendly content, this isn’t the reality for all of them. It is not uncommon for family channels to be criticized and accused of abuse and exploitation. Some parents have even lost custody of their children after instances of abuse being caught on camera,

According to Couple Temporarily Loses Custody of Children After ‘Pranks’ Shown on YouTube from NBC News, a Maryland YouTube family that goes by the name “DaddyOFive” gained popularity from posting prank videos on their channel. After multiple instances of alleged abuse being captured on camera, the couple lost custody of two of their five children. These instances of abuse included humiliating and screaming at their children but then saying it’s a “prank” as well as playing games that involved one sibling slapping the other and calling that a “prank” as well. 

One infamous family YouTube channel that went by the name of “8 Passengers” was immensely popular on YouTube from 2015-2021. This channel featured Ruby Franke, the mom and puppeteer of the Franke family, her husband, and their six children. Initially known for lighthearted family vlogs, the channel drew criticism for Ruby’s strict and controversial parenting. This led many viewers to believe the Franke children were being abused and exploited. 

According to Who is Ruby Franke, the mom of the ‘8 Passengers’ YouTube channel arrested on abuse charges? from NBC News, concerns escalated and child protective services were contacted when Ruby revealed in a video that her 15-year-old son had slept on a beanbag for seven months as punishment. In another video, she stated that she hoped no one would feed her six-year-old daughter after she forgot her lunch for school, believing it would teach her a lesson.

These incidents, among others documented on the channel, led many viewers to suspect abuse. These suspicions were confirmed in August 2023, when Ruby was arrested for aggravated child abuse, and in February 2024, she received four consecutive prison sentences of one to fifteen years each. 

Senior Emma Gray has followed the case through Hulu’s documentary “Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke.”

“The mom, Ruby, saw on YouTube this whole idea of putting her family on the internet and making these little vlogs of her daily life. That’s what it started out to be,” said Gray. “The dad, he was not okay with it at all. But when they saw the first check come in, they were like, ‘okay, we need to keep doing this, because it’s a source of income.’ So they kept doing more and more over the years.” 

In February 2025, Ruby Franke’s oldest daughter, Shari Franke, 21, spoke out against family vlogging in an interview with People Magazine titled, Why Shari Franke Is Speaking Out Against Family Vlogging After Surviving Mom’s Abuse: ‘No Ethical Way to Do It’ (Exclusive).  

“I’ve witnessed the damage of what happens when your life is put online,” Shari told People. “There’s no ethical way to do it.”

The YouTube presence of the “8 Passengers” channel cannot be solely blamed for the abuse within the Franke family, but it’s hard to deny the possibility of a connection. In the world of family channels, protecting children from potential exploitation for views and profit is a complex issue. When parental roles overlap with content creation, conflicts of interest can arise, sometimes with harmful consequences.

“YouTube family kids should have an option on whether or not they want to be in it. Everybody is seeing their lives, and maybe they don’t want that, but the parents can say, ‘no, you’re gonna do it anyways, it doesn’t matter what you think, because we want to make this money,” said Gray. “Honestly, you see it with a lot of YouTube families. If your kids don’t want to be a part of your channel anymore, but they’re forced to be a part of it, their mental health is going to be negatively impacted.”

Thousands of family channels thrive on YouTube, and extreme cases like the Franke family are not representative of them all. For many families, creating content is a passion that brings them closer together. However, the long-term impact of a child’s online presence is hard to predict. Some family channels share deeply personal or potentially embarrassing moments from their children’s lives, content that may be difficult to escape later on if the child feels their privacy was violated. 

When it comes to the exploitation or unfair treatment of children online, legal protections remain limited. Family channels can blur the line between parent and employer for a child, which can be detrimental to their mental health and the relationships within their family. Instead of the focus being on making money and being in the public eye, YouTube families should focus on protecting their kids in whatever way they can, even if that means rethinking their career choice. 

“The internet is a weird place,” said Bergh. “I want my kids to stay off of social media for as long as possible, so the idea that there are parents out there who are purposely putting their kids on social media is hard for me to understand.”