Abstract
As family life continues to enter and unfold on YouTube, the boundaries between intimacy, entertainment, and monetization have become strikingly blurred. This thesis examines how YouTube family vloggers construct and monetize their families through curated portrayals of authenticity, care, and morality. Using a qualitative content analysis of 100 videos from ten of the most popular YouTuber family channels of 2023, this study investigates how families and children are presented, how performances of authenticity are constructed and perceived, and how advertisements and sponsorships shape the narratives that these families produce. The analysis considers how parents act as both narrators and producers of family content, creating an image of domestic warmth and moral virtue while navigating the online commercial demands. Altogether, this research highlights how YouTube families merge faith, care, and consumerism into a cohesive brand identity that blurs the boundary between private life and public performance. By situating family vlogging into the broader discussions of digital labor, authenticity, and commercialization, this study reveals how online family content reflects and reshapes our current understanding of childhood, intimacy, and family life in the digital age.
Advisor
Emily Boyd
Committee Member
Dennis Waskul
Committee Member
Anne Kerber
Date of Degree
2025
Language
english
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Arts (MA)
Program of Study
Sociology
Department
Sociology and Leadership Studies
College
Humanities and Social Sciences
Recommended Citation
Anderson, J. (2025). Growing up online: Children, family vlogs, and the monetization of childhood [Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/1568/
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