Children did not ask to be born into the attention economy. But they were.
This cluster maps the specific ways platforms exploit the vulnerabilities of minors — and the ways parental behaviour sometimes reproduces that same logic without meaning to. The risks are not accidental. They are built in.
The question this cluster asks: who is responsible for the child in the feed?
Terms in this cluster
Sharenting
Before the child can speak, they have a digital footprint. Someone else built it.
Momfluencer
Mother as content producer. Child as protagonist. The domestic sphere as a business model.
Family Vlogging
The camera is always on. The children are always in frame. They did not audition.
Kidfluencer
A child with a brand, managed by a parent. An industry with no minimum age requirement.
Screen Time
The paediatrician asks how many hours. The app tracks it. The platform that designed the product to be irresistible is not part of the conversation.
Roblox
It looks like a game. It is also a currency system, a social network, and a space where adults access children.
Robux
The child does not spend money. They spend Robux. The money was already spent.
Loot Boxes
You pay. You do not know what you get. The same mechanism drives slot machines. There is no age requirement.
Predatory Design
The game knows the child is seven. It knows which notifications bring them back and how long they will play before a parent intervenes. This was designed in.
Gaming Disorder
The WHO gave it a name. The gaming industry said it did not exist. The child could not stop playing.
Online Grooming
The conversation begins as friendship. It moves gradually. Each step is small enough to seem unremarkable.
FOMO
The phone lights up. You do not check it immediately. But you wonder what you are missing. That wondering is the product.
Sexting
The legal framework was written for adults. The behaviour it criminalises is common among teenagers.