Child's digital communications: A study of the kidfluencer phenomenon in cyberspace, focusing on the YouTube platform and the unboxing genre

Ameli, Saeid Reza; Ravadrad, Azam; Bicharanlou, Abdollah; Mousavi Haghshenas, Milad

doi:10.22059/jcss.2026.408825.1220

Child's digital communications: A study of the kidfluencer phenomenon in cyberspace, focusing on the YouTube platform and the unboxing genre

Document Type : Original article

Authors

Saeid Reza Ameli ¹

Azam Ravadrad ²

Abdollah Bicharanlou ²

Milad Mousavi Haghshenas ²

¹ Professor of Communications and Global Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

² Department of Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

10.22059/jcss.2026.408825.1220

Abstract

Background: Background: Four of the top ten subscribed YouTube channels feature child-centric content, with three belonging to kidfluencers whose videos are dubbed in fourteen languages. By mid-2025, these four channels collectively garnered 608 million subscribers, demonstrating the phenomenon's significance in the digital sphere.
Aims: This article utilizes the Dual-Spacization of the World paradigm and a qualitative approach (combining participatory observation and documentary analysis focused on YouTube and the popular unboxing genre) to describe the kidfluencer phenomenon, its links to digital commerce and economy, and its cultural consequences on child development and socialization.
Methodology: The second part offers a local interpretation of this global trend by analyzing thirteen semi-structured interviews with children and adolescents (aged six to fourteen).
Findings: The analysis confirmed the interviewees' positive alignment with kidfluencing through four key themes: "Spectacular Consumption and the Spectacularization of Consumption", "Perceiving Kidfluencers as Independent and Validating Them", "Expert Users, Potential Producers" and "Kidfluencing: A Path to Fame, a Shortcut to Wealth".
Conclusion: The study’s findings recommend that, to maximize opportunities, supportive legislation and regulatory bodies should actively back children’s agency and capabilities in digital environments, while simultaneously promoting the development of spatial literacy and enhancement of children’s digital literacy through national and global programs and policies.

Keywords

digital economy

dual-spacization of childhood

kidfluencing

unboxing genre

YouTube platform

Subjects

media

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