An online content creator, in terms of social media, is a person who puts out content online in the form of writing, videos, pictures, songs, etc. Most content creators start off with making videos on a platform, like YouTube or TikTok. Some famous content creators include: PewDiePie, MrBeast, Zach King, James Charles, SSSniperWolf, Safiya Nygaard, and Lilly Sing, amongst others. 

While these popular content creators have millions of followers and seem to lead luxurious lives, they also have to deal with a lot of hate, sexualization, and insults. Content creation for these people is a full-time job. They work day and night to create content, edit it, and market it, and because of that just simply “ignoring” the hate or backlash they receive can be hard. 

There are also some content creators on these platforms that happen to be below the age of 18. In other words, they’re minors. And in my opinion, not all minors should be content creators online, especially now that it is so easy to just start a YouTube channel or TikTok account.

One of the most popular content creators below the age of 18 is Charli D’Amelio, who is currently 17-years-old, and she was 15-years-old when she first started making TikToks. Now, D’Amelio’s TikTok videos are not something new or extraordinary, they’re just simply her dancing in front of a camera. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing; it’s just that it’s not something super new or unique. Regardless of that, she still has about 130 million followers. Why? 

According to some internal documents obtained by The Intercept, TikTok “instructed moderators to suppress posts created by users deemed too ugly, poor, or disabled for the platform.”

Essentially if TikTok moderators come across videos of “unattractive” people, they can take it down. This means that the videos of “attractive” content creators have access to a larger audience. This also means that attractive content creators have an advantage over others and the audience they would then be exposed to is largely comprised of people who wouldn’t have come across their profiles otherwise, and that includes accounts with inappropriate content. Not only is this unfair towards other content creators, but the exposure can also cause the promoted content creators to have to deal with more hate and creepy remarks, even worse if the content creators are minors.   

Furthermore, according to an article by Untitled Magazine, “Even now, many plus-size and body-positive creators struggle to connect with audiences on the platform and feel the need to limit their content for fear of being censored, put under review, and even banned from the app.”

And the reason they get banned is not because they are violating any actual guidelines—it’s because they are deemed “unsuitable” by TikTok. 

All the pretty girls you see on TikTok, or the fit guys you see on TikTok, with a huge number of followers, a lot of times, their work is not even extraordinary, it’s simply TikTok’s algorithm promoting them because they’re not “ugly, poor, or disabled for the platform.” 

This is partially the reason why D’Amelio, along with other “good-looking” TikTokers or content creators, are so popular. 

Even though the whole idea of promoting people based on looks is problematic in general, because it causes body image issues and creates a toxic audience environment, it is even worse for content creators who are minors.  

As previously mentioned, being a famous online creator comes with a lot of unpleasant things like hate, backlash, body shaming, racism, sexism, homophobia, and sexualization. In fact, it also comes with a lot of media coverage which can end up being super invasive. While all the things mentioned above are toxic and bad for both minor and adult content creators, it is especially worse for minors. 

Seventeen Magazine sexualized D’Amelio for wearing a bodysuit. The D’Amelio sisters had a breakdown because of the constant hate they received, so on and so forth. On top of that, D’Amelio also switched to online school even before it was a thing since the start of the pandemic, to manage her content creation with her studies. And she also said that she was “failing every class.”

Charli D’Amelio is just one example of a minor content creator who has a lot on her plate; there are so many more content creators, just like her, trying to keep up with their fame and education while trying to not get upset by the hate coming their way. 

Do I think minors shouldn’t be allowed to create content online? No. In fact, I think that some of the below 18-year-old content creators are actually very pleasant to watch, like those who make singing videos, art videos, and others who make decent videos, and those who do not do everything for fame. 

Do I think that it should be given a lot of thought? Yes! The hate, the sexualization, the sudden pressure to be perfect, and a role model for millions of people can be a LOT to take in, and it can really affect one’s mental health, relationships, interactions, and studies. So it should be a well-thought-out decision and not an impulsive one.

Childhood and adolescence are times when a lot of things we experience shape our perception of the outside world. And if those experiences are “bad”, it can affect us mentally and emotionally in the long run.

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