There are quite a lot of these “influencers” in the equestrian and country life world either exploiting their dc or basically, I’m afraid to say, showing off their idyllic lifestyles with country cottages, beautifully dressed dc and ponies and what can only be, I assume, inherited wealth. And the rest of it is just painful in a “look at us, aren’t we marvellous” sort of way.
I avoid their vlogs on You Tube and scroll on past on Instagram but they are hard to avoid completely when they pop up on your feed all of the time even when you have “unfollowed”, or have not even “followed” in the first place, especially if you are interested in a niche subject.
In one such family, it’s obvious that the eldest child is not in to the sport as much as the rest, and is much more of a shy and sensitive type and the mother’s posts are all about how wonderful it is to see this child back on a horse. It sounds harmless but imho it’s constant emotional blackmail. I hope they will be ok and the family allow this child to pursue a different lifestyle and have different interests to their own.
And I sincerely hope this family think very carefully about how much they continue to share given that this child is now approaching secondary school age.
I know a lot of this sharing on line comes from a place of genuine love but some of it definitely takes place for monetary or sponsorship reasons and that is basically equivalent to “selling” your dc, or at least images of them, for a buck. And once those images are out there, you the parent have absolutely no control over what happens to them.
Edited to say that these people’s feeds are full of positive comments so I am prepared to hear that my opinion about all of this sharing is wrong and I’m a just a heartless killjoy!
Imho opinion though, I don’t think children should ever appear on sm or on tv, however great, or not, their family is, and whether they live on a Yorkshire farm, in a palace, or in a competitive sports field, because fame of any sort can be such a corrupting influence which adversely affects personalities and relationships and you need to be fully adult to handle it. Children need to be able to grow up and make mistakes and be themselves in private, without the eyes of the world on them.