RE: Sam’s Hangout #98 - “CHILDREN AS CONTENT”

Hmmmm on a YES OR NO context this will be very controversial or it is but im glad there’s the urgency to explain whatever stance which brings us to the middle ground which is analysis but not just a one faceted or one phased approach to an answer.

In our today world this issue has prominently risen to à point that it’s becoming more normal and acceptable for children to be used as content rather than deliberating the consequences. The domination or success of the internet and modern era has made any civilization looking act or trend as normal and regarded as development. Dont you think it can be controlled? I mean just accepting whatever comes into the society as a trend via the social media. Sometimes I even wish we just have the basic internet and www space without the entertainment part of it, like the instagram tiktoks and all… it’s nice but using children for contents actually has risks that outweigh the protections. We will find out..

Advantages of child content creation

Actually I won’t despise the positivity in it or the real benefits that are attached to it asides MONEY! because In our world today Thats the bone of contention for every act or thought which is wrong as it tends to take out humanity for profitability.

When kids get early access to creativity on such scale it helps a lot to build their skills and reception capabilities in the sense that they tend to start understanding metrics and know what’s more acceptable rp their audience which means they can already do a target creation for a certain aim, Thats à skill that helps them all through their life in so many real ramifications. Some kids naturally enjoy storytelling performances, teaching , music or gaming so they can always enjoy building contents around that which nin the long term they develop lotta confidence , communication skills and very strong digital literacy. Somehow it prepares them for the fast approaching digital future ahead of them.

It also helps them and the family in terms of financial opportunities if channeled properly. Momey generated could be used for education or healthcare or better still be used to secure a long term savings for the child.

One more benefit is relatability with the other kids and the sense that other children feel represented and not ignored on the internet space, in their own digital age now other kids that are maybe introverts will feel less alone, learn more and live happier so we can agree that it’s not harmful, now we should look at the negative side

What are the negative impacts?

Now this is the section that the world will keep ignoring because humanity is dead! I
Hope we do better

We all know that most children of such ages cannot really give informed consent because a child cannot understand the permanence of the internet yet and most likely they will tend to upload more number of contents that may not even be permissible to the general public or discretion just for the innocence of being a child, they also cannot predict the future consequences or even opt out safely when they finally wanna live à different life or the life they really wanted or would have loved for themselves. It would be very hard when there is already a brand built around them, oh imagine lol they won’t be able to stop because so many businesses promotions, deals and all are already tied to the content they make and the particular audience the kid was reaching need to be held at this point their image becomes public property or business property before they can decide.

Thats why most times child content creators often experience anxiety from things like performance expectations , staying relevant, getting likes and views, becoming tored before they’re even adults…

In this era misuse of contents is very rampant of which kids are not left out. I can imagine the innocent boy on the diapers pack at 15 angry seeing his naked picture smiling on a commercial level 😂😂

Now you see this is tough as the merits and demerits are crazy to balance, you can’t forfeit one for one…. But I think that children should never be the primary focus as PRODUCTS.

@daverick @afrikens @marsdave @zusi78 @sam.hangout @ozibaby

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