Exploiting Kids For Clicks
a Nir Bashan article
A Psychology Today Article
When internet fame and money beckon, temptation can cloud parental responsibility.
Key Points:
Parents post embarrassing or awkward moments of their kids online for the world to see.
The long-term effects of posting videos of children online can be damaging.
Parents have a responsibility to protect their children by carefully choosing what they share online.
Two-year-old Chloe was in the back seat of the car with her older sister, captured in a moment on Mom’s cell phone that lives on in internet infamy[1]. She was just told that she was not going to go to school that day but instead was going to Disneyland. The camera pans to Chloe’s older sister, who is 7. She squeals with delight. And cries. Then the camera pans to Chloe, who looks at the camera with a sort of sideways glance with little emotion. The camera rests on her expressionless expression.
It's hilarious. Or is it?
As most readers here already know, 2-year-old toddlers have little capacity for understanding emotional moments[2] that register more vividly for an older child or adult, such as a surprise that the child is not going to school but instead to Disneyland. It is quite possible that Chloe had no idea what was going on, and yet her mom still decided to post her confusion for the world to see. At the time of printing, the video has 24 million clicks, has been shared millions of times, and has earned the moniker “Side Eye Chloe.”
What makes parents post their most personal moments with their children online? What drives someone to post a video of their kids on the internet to get some clicks, knowing that the internet is full of predatory and nefarious risks[3]? Is it the intoxicating drive for fame? Is it the allure of money? I set out to find out why on earth someone would choose to exploit their kids for clicks. But first I had to see if this type of activity was widespread.
What I found out was that this phenomenon of exploiting kids for clicks is extensive. At least 1 million memes are shared every day[4]. A casual glance on Google shows many results of parents uploading images and videos of their kids doing things like posing with the backdrop of a house fire with a slightly awkward smile[5]—forever memorialized as “Disaster Girl.” Or the image of 11-month-old Sam pumping his fist and looking satisfied, which became the center of a lawsuit because the image, now called “Success Kid,” was used by a Republican candidate, to the chagrin of the parents, who are Democrats[6]. Or the “Charlie Bit My Finger[7]” brothers, who, at age 3 and 1, saw the older kid putting his fingers in the 12-month-old’s mouth, exclaiming over and over, “Charlie bit my finger.” Perhaps you have seen the videos. If not, the links are in the footnotes. They are cringeworthy.
They are cringeworthy because these are real children, not some made-up, imaginary Hollywood fantasy. They are real children with real lives having real moments that are part and parcel of their childhood. Their privacy has been forever compromised by parents who chose to post to an internet that never forgets. No one forced these parents to post online; they chose to do it. In some cases, the parents promoted the images and videos to drive up clicks relentlessly[8]. These are real kids who will eventually get older and have to carry the stigma of their unsought and nonconsensual internet fame for the rest of their lives. In some cases, the long-term effects have been horrifically damaging, with severe mental health issues and even suicide[9] found among those exploited meme kids who one day, inevitably, grow up.
While the reasons for posting this type of media at the height of often painful awkward childhood moments vary widely, and perhaps a dissertation or two should be written on the subject, I found one very compelling reason parents succumb to this type of exploitation.
It’s the money[10].
The “Charlie Bit My Finger” video, which could have been a private video that stayed within the family to enjoy, was instead posted on the internet for millions to see. And it made some big money. Currently, the video has made the parents over $402,000. The "Side Eye Chloe" video from the introductory paragraph? What did that generate? $74,000. The “Disaster Girl” photo with the house fire burning in the background? $473,000. Sam pumping his fist as the “Success Kid”? $38,000 and a lawsuit over usage rights.
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Childhood is one of the most precious times in life, a period spent developing associations and connectivity with humanity that is essential for functioning adults. And childhood can be tough as well, full of awkward moments of adjustments to societal norms and confusion and lack of understanding of the long-term ramifications of certain behavior. But adults understand these ramifications, and adults know better the consequences of posting something to the internet. Yet choosing to post images and videos of their kids at their most vulnerable has to be one of the most exploitive things parents can do today.
Instead, enjoy the memory and share it with friends if you must, but keep it off the internet. The short-term gain of money may be tempting, but the long-term gain is dubious at best. With all the trials and tribulations childhood comes with, valuing the privacy of a child, especially at the most vulnerable moments, should be more important than any financial payout.
References
[2] Noroña-Zhou AN, Tung I. Developmental Patterns of Emotion Regulation in Toddlerhood: Examining Predictors of Change and Long-Term Resilience. Infant Ment Health J. 2021; 42: 5–20. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21877
[3] "Internet Predators: Warnings & Prevention for Families During the Pandemic and Beyond." U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of New York.
[4] Brown, Helen. "The surprising power of internet memes." September 28, 2022. BBC.
[5] Fazio, Marie. "The World Knows Her as ‘Disaster Girl.’ She Just Made $500,000 Off the Meme." April 29, 2021. The New York Times.
[6] Yuhas, Alan, "Mother of ‘Success Kid’ Demands Steve King Stop Using His Meme." January 28, 2020. The New York Times.
[8] Lyttle, Zoey. "At Age 2, 'Side-Eyeing Chloe' Became a Viral Meme. 12 Years Later, Her Mom Reveals Why She Has a 'Lot of Guilt.'"January 20, 2025. People.
[9] "Kailia Posey, who became famous with the 'Grinning Girl' GIF, dies by suicide at 16." May 6, 2022. The Economic Times.
[10] https://www.highervisibility.com/ppc/learn/age-meme-kid-over/
