AIBU to watch some of the mummy vloggers and be grateful for my life rather than aspiring to theirs...

[MakingPlans21]

Emily Norris spoke with quite an Essex accent, three years later she sounds Canadian even though she has lived in Essex all that time. And don’t get me started on the way she mops the floor with bare feet and the soles are filthy. Conversely, how she stands on her kids’ beds in her slippers, that she has worn outdoors, to make them. Why? This is supposed to be aspirational?

Lucy Jessica Carter comes across really odd. It’s like she’s reading from a really bad script. And thinks she is brilliant at styling and interiors but... well...

James and Carys are going to be insufferable now they have had a baby. James is so patronising and comes across as controlling. And the pair of them are so spoilt.

The Saccone-Jolys... where do I start?

I know I’m supporting them when I watch them but I love to watch and cringe! Guilty pleasure.

I used to love Emily until I saw her pictures posing topless and all her antics until I realized how fake she is!. She really puts on this wholesome mumsy persona when she was completely different to before her channel. I was shocked.

Horses for courses really. I'm happy with my life and getting to the end of each day with everyone safe and well.
Who knows if they're truly happy more to the point why do you care?
My Dsis lives an Instagram life in a big beautiful cream house with a good car, clothes, fancy eyebrow She is very happy with her life.
She doesn't do Instagram either if she did you'd assume she was one of the unhappy ones with her lot.
You do you.

So happy with my own ordinary life. I don't feel the need to aspire to be like any of those people. Dull vacuous people with dull lives lacking in intelligence to do anything else. Why would you put your family through that.

It's not compulsory to watch or even follow them, it's perfectly okay to live a different life but why assume they've dull lives?
I don't know who's who.
There's more than one way to live a life.
I don't agree with dragging the DC into it, most DC these days envy those DC they're acting looks fun.
Tbf you're free advertising for them now. 🤣

I'm voting YABU, as I'll never get the mentality of people watching others when they don't seem to like them

There is a mummy vlogger who lives near me; I've never heard anything particularly good about her IRL so looked at her social media out of interest. I cannot see why anyone would aspire to her life. Her husband is normal, her kids are normal, her house is normal, and yet she has to spend her whole life making her kids pose in free clothes/with free toys/kitchen utensils in order to get an income. Ugh.

Who says anyone is aspiring to her life?
You say yourself her family is normal. Maybe that's what people like following?
Also, so what if she gets some stuff what you deem as "free?"
You see as free but when it comes to blogging or social media you have to provide regular content in the first place before getting what you see as "stuff."
Bollocks to those thinking it's not a proper job.
A lot of work can go into social media content.

I came across a school mums Instagram page once, didn't know she was an inspiring influencer and I couldn't believe how fake it was. All posts about her car boot filled with designer bags after a shopping spree and how she loves her many pairs of bright white converse, never seen her in them. Pictures of 'her car' that wasn't actually her car. I could go on. It made me really sad, why did she feel the need to portray this fancy life that wasn't really hers.

I suppose it's how you take the posts and YouTube videos, if you let it make you feel not worthy then it's unhealthy but viewing it as entertainment not so bad?? Maybe?

its sad if they feel the need to portray a life they don't have

Bollocks to those thinking it's not a proper job.
A lot of work can go into social media content.

Social media can be a proper job and I’m sure lots of us don’t understand the level of work behind the scenes, it’s a new and emerging industry after all.

If it is a proper industry then we should be able to level valid criticisms at these businesses (as after all this is what they are), leave online reviews and consume them in whichever way we see fit.
They are placing themselves on platforms as content, content for people to consume. People can consume that content as something they enjoy, something they mock, something they find distasteful and “hate watch” or indeed something they find troubling and immoral and want to report.
Once you package you or your business up as something for the public to consume, you don’t get to say how they take it in (beyond illegal activities and trolling), if they want to watch an influencer because it gets out their stress via a hate watch, then whilst I wouldn’t do that myself, the influencer doesn’t get a say. Much like Heinz don’t get a say in you smothering your house in ketchup rather than your burger.

On another note, if this is a proper job then proper rules should be in place and action should be taken - we rarely see action from the ASA, despite there being rules for sponsored content.
In France new laws have come in/are being discussed (can’t remember how far it has progressed) regarding children being featured in paid social media content. I would like to see this here as I believe there are huge ethical issues to using your child for paid content and also from shoving a camera into their face from the moment they exit the birth canal, through to potty training, sharing identifying school uniforms and a host of other embarrassing content. This is rightfully criticised and questioners.
“Is funding your next house purchased based on a pregnancy and subsequent birth ethical?”
“Is showing your dog pissing on your newborn to a million people fair?”
“Is talking about your daughter smearing shit from her nappy around her room, to a million subscribers right? Is it also right to call people who criticise that approach “trolls”?”

I would like to see valid criticism of bloggers, YouTubers and social media personalities being taken seriously rather than brushed off as trolls.
Yes it must be hard to hear stuff you don’t like about what you’ve put out into the world but, take the SJs for instance, 90% of the criticism I’ve seen about them is valid. It regards genuine safety concerns but because they don’t like it, it is branded “trolling” and they receive a pity party.

We need large scale discussions about making money by selling your children and the safety of their home online.

I actually know one of the people you've slagged off and have done for years
She's a much nicer person than someone who would make a snap bitchy judgement and slag people off online
And trust me she wouldn't give a shiny shit about your opinion

Oh and I think influencers are a heap of nonsense as a "job"

you might think they are a heap of nonsense, but they are doing rather well off the back of it

can't see much 'slagging off' so far here, have seen much worse, but you know, if you open up your lives for all to see then a bit of criticism is to be expected. No point in getting all arsey over it

when Mrs Meldrum channel was at its height she had many people pointing out safety issues. She blogged her interior, garden with forest behind,showing where all window locks and door locks were situated, what type and then posts her 3 girls and informs everyone her husband is away on rigs for weeks at a time.....we all knew about her posh new household items, what she had and where they were kept.

too much. But she did see sense and changed her style and now we don't see the girls.

I am a big fan of Jennifer L Scott who has a youtube channel called The Daily Connoisseur. She is America, with an English husband. She does some brand and paid for stuff, but not alot. She is all about living well, making the most of whatever life you have etc. She is quite low-key and I have been a fan of hers since she started a blog about French chic easily 10 years ago.

She is the only one I watch. Occasionally I watch someone she recommends like the Parisienne Farmgirl, but generally Jennifer is the only one I enjoy.

I started watching TheDadChallengePodcast and see a lot of these family vloggers in a whole new light. It's often the children that make their money and I kind of think that's wrong because their kids are too young to consent to having their whole lives put online.

And some of the stuff they share, like their young daughters first bras, or first periods or weird close ups of them dressed in adult clothes with loads of makeup on like the woman who had her child pretend to be 21 for the day, is just creepy and after learning they can see it's adult men watching those types of vids and not other children I just find it weird.

There needs to be something out in place because if a family is making most of their income from their children in the vids then how much power to kids have to say no when many of them have had their lives on camera front the second they were born.

If my ten year old created a tik tok account and was putting vids of herself dancing on there I'd be criticised for allowing her to be in social media.

If there's an age restriction then you'd think the adults who create separate channels for each child and who get paid to have their children promote brands and stuff would be criticised like any other parents allowing their children to have social media accounts.

I also think if it's a job then maybe there should be regulations about the amount work children are allowed to do and what happens to the money the children earn for their parents. There's parents who have openly said they haven't and won't be putting any money away for their kids and when it's the kids that are drawing the views that their channel how easy is it for the kid to say they don't want to be recorded anymore?

I'm not saying it should be stopped and I do think most of them love their children, but I think some know exactly who generates the income and what demographic is watching certain types of content.

I've never heard of them, don't look at them if you don't like them.
Why come on here and bitch, you sound jealous or not happy with your own life, tbh.

@Devlesko

I've never heard of them, don't look at them if you don't like them. Why come on here and bitch, you sound jealous or not happy with your own life, tbh.

Probably a similar reason you came on the thread and bitched. People moan about things they see and dislike.

I've never heard of any of them.

@CrazyTitsLiz

I've never heard of any of them.

Nor me but the OP has made me laugh.

I'm not sure what's worse, her fangirling over these complete strangers or her weirdly fake claims that she's not a fangirl.

This is possibly the new "The Daily Mail are scum but I read it every day because (insert ridiculously pathetic excuse) 🙄😂

@Devlesko @WorraLiberty Ok, so lockdown monotony got to me and I now love to hate certain mummy influencers, but you two just want to have a bitch for the sake of it. Lucy? Emily? 🤣

Ok, so lockdown monotony got to me and I now love to hate certain mummy influencers

And that's owning it ^^

There's nothing wrong with that if it's your thing, it's the pretence that's a bit daft.

Nothing bitchy about pointing that out given that you started the thread.

Yeah really not my thing but since it's clearly yours, you might as well give it a go instead of feeling bitter over other people's success.

Or have you tried and failed and that's what this is really about?

Honestly can't believe people watch these attention seeking liars

@WorraLiberty why are you on this thread then? To bitch and derail?

What’s bitter about my comments? I’m way more successful than any of the mummy vloggers, because I have an outstanding career, lovely home etc from my own hard work, that they can benefit from. My children are safe, not exposed online, loved for being them not for doing some party piece on command for the camera/likes/ad revenue.

I watch the vloggers at times because the whole thing is so damn odd! And I feel happy that’s not my life.

But you seem so worked up about me having an opinion on them. Wonder why?