Thumbs up. You’ve been using words since before you could walk, but here you are expressing pleasure with hieroglyphs through a simple left click of the mouse. Yes, it’s an easy response, almost a knee-jerk reaction. You barely have to pay attention when you do it but, as you’ll see in the new book, “Like, Follow, Subscribe” by Fortesa Latifi, the poster relies on you.
Back when she was a first-time mother, Fortesa Latifi often felt like she was flailing. Desperate for advice, she sought comfort online and found a community of “mommy bloggers,” writers who got her through the rough times.
That was then, this is now and mommy bloggers are rather rare today. Many of them have quit blogging to become Instagram and TikTok vloggers (video + blog) because there’s more money to be made. Latifi says Goldman Sachs Research, in fact, predicts “the creator economy [could] reach $480 billion by 2027…”
But at what cost?
For some of the most-followed vlogging families, their camera’s always-on and few things are off-limits; physically sick children, potty training and diaper videos are all fair game. It might embarrass the children now or later, but some children like the notoriety and fame. Some even have their own Instagram or TikTok accounts with thousands of followers. And besides, chaos, mean pranks and family challenges make more money.
So where is the line drawn?
Latifi spoke to many former mommy vloggers who expressed deep regrets for posting too much information, for not acknowledging their children’s privacy, for spending too much time behind the camera, for frighteningly rabid fans and online creeps. Many rued the controversy and the disillusionment caused by staged scenes.
And yet, many continue with no regrets.
“And how could there be?” Latifi asks. Some vloggers are “making over a million dollars a year.”
In the beginning of “Like, Follow, Subscribe,” you might wonder what you’ve gotten yourself into. Though author Fortesa Latifi writes about the comfort she found in online content, she isn’t always complimentary to the vloggers she mentions in her book. It’s not, in fact, very clear what her initial intention is, but stick around.
The fog soon clears but don’t be surprised if that makes you squirm. Latifi’s work is balanced – her critiques are fair and thoughtful and she’s honest with what happens in this industry - but she sometimes dives too deeply into individual vloggers’ works, in descriptions that can become mighty uncomfortable to read. Even if you’re absolutely obsessed with a certain vlogger, even if you’re a vlogger yourself, Latifi’s synopses of posts are often very cringeworthy.
Parents beware. Grandparents, too, because there’s little-to-no industry regulation.
You might also dislike the frequent hashtags that feel unnecessary and the industry lingo with no explanations, but both issues are ignorable if you’re eyes-wide-open considering vlogging for income or a media buyer or product placement expert. “Like, Follow, Subscribe” doesn’t blow the top off the vlogging industry but it starts easing the lid aside and that’s a big thumbs-up.
Terri Schlichenmeyer’s reviews of business books are read in more than 260 publications in the U.S. and Canada.