Children’s exposure on Instagram: Instamoms, brand presence and legal loophole

Abstract

The influencer phenomenon has al lowed previously unknown people to attract high levels of popularity through the display of images that recreate their activities, their interests, or their daily life. Instamoms are influencers who share content related to their family life on Instagram, frequently showing their young daughters and sons. In their publications, it is appreciated that commercial brands figure prominently, although the nature of the role they play in advertising strategies is not always clear. Through an ad hoc guide, 1 000 publications from ten popular Instagram accounts were analysed to quantify the frequency in which they show minors, and the presence of brands. Minors appear in 45.6% of the posts analysed and these publications receive 41% more likes than those in which there are no children. Trademarks appear in more than half of the publications analysed, with a pronounced increase in this respect between 2019 (43.3%) and 2020 (63.5%). Only one out of five there is a brand, and they explain that it is paid advertising. Minors feature frequently in the accounts of their mothers, and they contribute to generating large and attractive communities for the advertising industry. It is necessary to regulate the way in which advertising appears on these accounts, as well as the presence of their sons and daughters in them.