Sharing Cute Faces as a New Revenue Model: Conceptualisation of the Influencer Sharenting Phenomena

Influencers are popular social media users who post entertaining content on their social media channels (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube). Influencers do not only develop expertise in a specific domain (e.g., fashion, food, or parenting), they also reveal many details of their personal lives to build an authentic profile. The success of influencers mainly lies in this authenticity, whereby they create a personal and intimate bond with their followers. Influencer sharenting can be a powerful tool to increase authenticity. Specifically, influencers who specialise in the parenting domain or influencers who become parents often reveal personal details of their children, document their child’s life online through a large number of videos and photos, and share many intimate details with their large follower base. In addition, some parents even create a separate profile for their children, where their children gain the status of a kidfluencer. This chapter will offer insights into the practices of influencer sharenting considering the commercial motive that underlies the behaviour.