ABSTRACT

This essay considers the implications of social media technologies – specifically, Vine – for comedy studies, childhood studies, and digital culture. Whereas the child as producer and consumer is often overlooked in the humanities, this author contends that digital technologies radically liberate children to become producers of original content that can be easily and widely circulated around the world. Through case studies of three young producer-participants on Vine – Lillian Powers, Nash Grier, and Marissa Mayne – I consider the complexity of children’s humor, the need to consider real children in childhood studies, and the possible consequences on our understandings of authorship, distribution, and consumption.