The first day of return to the crèche, the first bath or the first family vacation, for the parents, all the gestures of their offspring deserve a photo or a video. A few years ago, we would gladly have sent them to grandparents, aunts and uncles or siblings. Now the majority often end up on Facebook, Instagram or even TikTok. Because according to a study by the Parenthood and Digital Education Observatory*, published on Monday, more than one in two parents (53%) have already shared content from their children on social networks.
And it starts very early: 91% of parents who post photos and videos of their offspring do so before they are five years old and 43% as soon as they are born. But the frequency is not the same for everyone. According to the study, carried out in collaboration with the Canadian company Potloc, 39% of parents publish content from their children less than once a month, 3% do so at least once a week and only 1% once a day. In the vast majority of cases, influencer parents use Facebook (70%). Instagram and TikTok, on the other hand, are used more by young parents between the ages of 18 and 35.
Several thousand euros monthly
Who said that having children has to be very expensive? For some parents, the pictures of their offspring can pay off big. Among those who publish photos and videos of their children, 3% are influencers, that is to say that they benefit from advantages in connection with their publications, gifts, promotions, even remuneration. For 47% of these influencer parents, this activity has even become their only main source of income: 70% of them claim to earn up to 5,000 euros per month, 1% between 10,000 and 50,000 euros and 4% more than 50,000 euros. .
But where does this money come from? Mainly advertising on videos (52%), affiliation (24%), sale of services (23%), sponsorship and brand muse (19%), partnerships with brands (19% ), subscriptions to private content (18%) and the sale of products via an e-shop (17%). Among the fathers and mothers surveyed, 66% use this remuneration directly for their offspring, via clothing, hobbies or extracurricular activities. Some use it for everyday purchases, such as school supplies or grocery shopping (60%). Conversely, 36% of parents use it for personal purchases.
Almost full-time job
But sharing photos and videos of your children on social networks is not necessarily easy. For some, it has even become a full-time job. Among these influencer parents, 60% of them believe that each content requires almost an hour of preparation. Six out of 10 also say they need to shoot two to 10 takes before posting on social networks. Let the most refractory rest assured, four out of ten influencer parents ensure that this publication time does not encroach on the rest, homework or leisure time of their offspring. Some parents (36%) even impose break times during the creation of content. Others (30%) set a maximum frequency for broadcasting their child’s video or photo. But it varies by family: 85% of influencer parents publish content about their children on social networks at least once a week and, among them, 38% do so at least once a day.
Among the vast majority of these families of influencers, it is the children (74%) who play the main role in the content published by their parents. Only 37% of fathers or mothers appear with their offspring. But in these families, exposure is very early: 75% of children are exposed before they are 5 years old, including 21% from birth and only 17% are between 10 and 16 years old at the time of the first exposure. What about toddler consent? 44% of parents claim to have obtained it before publishing content. Finally, 76% of respondents say they have already received criticism after posting photos or videos of their children on social networks.
*This study by the Parenthood and Digital Education Observatory was carried out by the company Potloc, via a questionnaire on social networks from November 9 to 21, 2022 on a sample of 1,273 people, including 1,000 French parents of children under 16 and 273 French parents influencers of children under 16.