What do you want to do for a living when you grow up? Just a few years ago, the most frequent answers to this question used to be: soccer player, teacher, journalist, singer, hairdresser, police officer, doctor, astronaut... Currently, to this list of professions we must add one that has more and more Weight among Spanish adolescents: influencer.
Currently, in Spain there are 134,000 amateur online content creators and more than 9,000 influencers with more than 100,000 followers, according to an analysis by 2btube. If you have a teenage son or daughter, these names will surely ring a bell: Ibai, Dulceida, María Pombo, TheGrefg, among others. All of them have become benchmarks for the youngest (and not so young), a role model. Hence, many have decided to follow in their footsteps and be like them. To the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" 1 in 3 minors in Spain is clear: influencer.
The screens have changed the professional references of Spanish minors. According to a study by the Reina Sofía Center on Adolescence and Youth, 1 in 3 minors want to be an influencer. Spanish children spend an average of 4 hours a day in front of screens, of which 80 minutes are spent on social networks or online video platforms, according to the latest Qustodio report.
The influencer boom has reached all age ranges. The Qustodio study, From change to adaptation: living and learning in a digital world, reveals that there are more and more minors with a presence on social networks and video platforms: TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitch have increased their use time on 76 minutes a day in the last two years. In addition, the study by the Reina Sofía Center indicates that 1 in 10 adolescents upload content online to try to become an influencer.
Many influencers start to be from a very young age, hand in hand with their parents. Las Ratitas, TeamNico or Los Juguetes de Arantxa are not the latest children's television series, but YouTube channels made by children that have millions of followers, more than any children's TV channel. Its target audience are boys and girls who have access to YouTube through a smartphone or tablet. If they grow up with these references from a young age, it is not surprising that when they grow up they want to be like them.
However, are Spanish families prepared for their children to succeed on the Internet? What risks does it entail for children to upload content to networks?
To control any of these risks, in Spain the responsibility falls entirely on family education. The minimum age to have a social profile is 14 years. Until then, it is the parents who have to watch that their children do not use these platforms. However, some like TikTok, YouTube or Snapchat allow you to create a profile at the age of 13 as long as there is parental permission.
Eduardo Cruz, CEO and co-founder of Qustodio, points out that “an abusive use of social networks and video platforms not only generates addiction in minors, but also exposes them to a series of unnecessary risks at their age. In addition to showing their physical identity, it is very easy for them to end up revealing personal information such as their school, address, family information...".
The expert points out that "families must be careful to achieve a digital balance in the lives of their children and avoid excessive fixation on becoming influencers."
