ABSTRACT
As Web 2.0 technologies enable social media platforms, a considerable amount of human communication and interaction begins from these circles. YouTube, the second most popular social media platform in the world (after Facebook), is the most popular one in Turkey. As creating content on YouTube is relatively easy compared to other social media platforms, children join in the process both as users and producers. However, children’s social media use is problematic in many aspects. Based on Roy Bhaskar’s critical realism, this chapter examines the commodification of childhood on YouTube channels as an emergent outcome of social media. Systematic exhibition of children’s daily activities on YouTube is profit-oriented and the newest form of capitalist exploitation of labour. By sharing their children’s videos, parents of influencer children generate advertising revenue and sponsorship agreements. Children’s influencer activities on YouTube have become the norm in the Western world and an accelerating trend in Turkey. A multimodal critical discourse analysis of child influencers’ videos aims to reveal generative mechanisms for the exploitation of children’s rights, exploitation of child labour, and potential risks considering influencer children’s identity formation.
