Micro-microcelebrity: Branding babies on the Internet
Babies and toddlers are amassing huge followings on social media, achieving microcelebrity status, and raking in five figure sums. In East Asia, many of these lucrative “micro-microcelebrities” rise to fame by inheriting exposure and proximate microcelebrification from their social media Influencer...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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M/C - Media and Culture
2015
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| Online Access: | http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/1022/wishcrys.com http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79375 |
| _version_ | 1848764041912123392 |
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| author | Abidin, Crystal |
| author_facet | Abidin, Crystal |
| author_sort | Abidin, Crystal |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Babies and toddlers are amassing huge followings on social media, achieving microcelebrity status, and raking in five figure sums. In East Asia, many of these lucrative “micro-microcelebrities” rise to fame by inheriting exposure and proximate microcelebrification from their social media Influencer mothers. Through self-branding techniques, Influencer mothers’ portrayals of their young’ children’s lives “as lived” are the canvas on which (baby) products and services are marketed to readers as “advertorials”. In turning to investigate this budding phenomenon, I draw on ethnographic case studies in Singapore to outline the career trajectory of these young children (under 4yo) including their social media presence, branding strategies, and engagement with their followers. The chapter closes with a brief discussion on some ethical considerations of such young children’s labour in the social media age. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:13:03Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-79375 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:13:03Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | M/C - Media and Culture |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-793752021-01-13T03:09:37Z Micro-microcelebrity: Branding babies on the Internet Abidin, Crystal Babies and toddlers are amassing huge followings on social media, achieving microcelebrity status, and raking in five figure sums. In East Asia, many of these lucrative “micro-microcelebrities” rise to fame by inheriting exposure and proximate microcelebrification from their social media Influencer mothers. Through self-branding techniques, Influencer mothers’ portrayals of their young’ children’s lives “as lived” are the canvas on which (baby) products and services are marketed to readers as “advertorials”. In turning to investigate this budding phenomenon, I draw on ethnographic case studies in Singapore to outline the career trajectory of these young children (under 4yo) including their social media presence, branding strategies, and engagement with their followers. The chapter closes with a brief discussion on some ethical considerations of such young children’s labour in the social media age. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79375 http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/1022/wishcrys.com http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ M/C - Media and Culture unknown |
| spellingShingle | Abidin, Crystal Micro-microcelebrity: Branding babies on the Internet |
| title | Micro-microcelebrity: Branding babies on the Internet |
| title_full | Micro-microcelebrity: Branding babies on the Internet |
| title_fullStr | Micro-microcelebrity: Branding babies on the Internet |
| title_full_unstemmed | Micro-microcelebrity: Branding babies on the Internet |
| title_short | Micro-microcelebrity: Branding babies on the Internet |
| title_sort | micro-microcelebrity: branding babies on the internet |
| url | http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/1022/wishcrys.com http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79375 |