When thinking of social media outlets that influence millions of people, sites such as snapchat, twitter and instagram are a few that are quite popular in the digital world. Instagram alone has worked as a substantial networking site for many young entrepreneurs and influencers. For one young child named ‘Lil Tay’, the mass amount of followers she has gained, reaching just over two million this past year has became a dream come true for any influencer. The nine year child, a Vancouver native has posted videos as well as pictures on her instagram feed, bragging about the luxurious items that she has claimed to own; therefore “flexing” which means to show off expensive materialistic items to attain attention. There has been controversy surrounding the so called “youngest flexer of the century” concerning the excessive use of profanity in her videos as well as the orchestration behind them seeing as she is merely just a child. Speculation has been circulated amongst various online platforms about Lil Tay and what the influence of social media has on her as well as the content in which she puts out for all of her followers to see.
Good Morning America spoke with Lil Tay and her mother in an interview earlier this year, where Lil Tay stated that “it isn’t true that her mom wants to make money off of her” as claims had been made about her mother, Angela Tian coaching her videos in order to make money. In the case of Lil Tay, the dynamics of parental control over a child’s social media has led to a uproar of conversations online. CTV News Vancouver had written an article about the mother stating that she had resigned from her job as a real estate agent where she had allegedly allowed for her daughter to film her videos in listed properties around Vancouver. Social media in this specific case has revealed more prominently the effects of allowing young children to have the freedom to engage in online communities, especially at a young age. Amongst the controversy surrounding Lil Tay, thousands of people on social media have become followers of her videos and like to think of her more of a meme than actually considering the repercussions that her behaviour can affect in the future. When looking at the lens of social media through Lil Tay, it is evident that although she has a large following, the content she had put out was inappropriate and not necessarily positive as most her posts have now been deleted on her Instagram but can still be seen on other accounts online. Parents should monitor more closely what their children put on social media for the information that is put online can last for a long time as posts get shared and recorded frequently which can inevitably be impactful in the future especially in the case of Lil Tay.
Citations:
“Who’s behind the internet’s ‘youngest flexer,’ 9-year-old ‘Lil Tay’?” Youtube, uploaded by Good Morning America, 23 May 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnjLSLuEbbI
CTV Vancouver, CTV News Vancouver, 10 May 2018 https://bc.ctvnews.ca/child-rapper-lil-tay-s-hollywood-hills-condo-actually-vancouver-listing-1.3924957
Megan Farokhmanesh. “Lil Tay returns, despite ‘troubles,’ with a docuseries” The Verge, 10 July 2018, https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/10/17552532/lil-tay-life-with-return-docuseries-zeus