YouTube’s Child Stars
How three families handle their viral video fame.
by Mina Hochberg
May 11, 2009
On an early summer day in 2007, Howard Jones* was videotaping his sons as they snuggled peacefully on a chair in their Buckinghamshire, England home. Then it happened: Charlie, 1, bit Harry, 3. "Charlie bit me," Harry giggled as his younger brother grinned
at the camera.
If the quote sounds familiar, it's probably because you're one of the 94 million people who've watched "Charlie Bit Me— Again! " on YouTube.
In an age when laughing babies and breakdancing toddlers are becoming Internet stars, parents like Jones are finding themselves in unforeseen and unprecedented, though not necessarily unwelcome, circumstances. Three years ago, Jones was just another camera-happy
dad who shot videos of his kids for private posterity. Today, "Charlie Bit My Finger" is the fourth most-viewed video on YouTube. According to Jones, it gets around 160,000 hits per day during the week and 250,000 per day over the weekend. That's the entire
population of San Diego watching the video on an average week.
The 10 most popular kid videos on YouTube:
1. Charlie Bit My Finger — Again!
94,271,261 views
2. Hahaha
81,959,221 views
3. Serious baby . . . Lol
21,782,907 views
4. David After Dentist
19,880,726 views
5. I Don't Like You Mommy
19,752,822 views
...view the next five videos!
Jones posted the clip in the summer of 2007. With the exception of family and friends, it existed in YouTube anonymity for a good four or five months. "I was close to taking it down because I thought there was little point in keeping it up," says Jones.
"Then what happened is I think it was used on CollegeHumor.com, and suddenly it just went crazy. Pretty much every day after that it was doubling its hits. I think just before the new year, it was a million."
The adoration for these YouTube toddler videos spans the world. Praise ranges from typical "LOLs" and smiley faces to exalted mini-essays exploring what makes the videos so touching. "[Harry] was so sweet, kind and patient with baby Charlie," one fan wrote
to Jones. "It's SO funny how we see him putting his finger in harm's way because his youthful curiosity is just too active to pass on this experiment."
Nowadays, it's standard practice for parents to post videos of their children on YouTube. With family and friends spread across state and country lines, online video-sharing is a cheap, easy way to share precious moments with far-flung loved ones.
"Once I realized how to post to YouTube, I posted religiously," says Shelly Cellak, a Chicago publicist and mother of two. "My mom is in Colorado, my brother lives in Brooklyn and I have a sister in New Hampshire, so I wanted them to be able to get to know
the kids."
The only people who look at Cellak's videos are those in her inner circle, but what if one of her clips were to suddenly become the next viral sensation? "It wouldn't be a big deal," Cellak says. "We'd probably take it in stride and have fun with it. Everything
I put up there is something I'm comfortable with everyone seeing."
Not all parents feel the same way as Cellak. While the advent of YouTube and similar video-sharing sites is a blessing to many, it raises red flags to parents who are leery of posting private videos in public forums.
Adam Slesinger, a father of two based in Rhode Island, says he cringes when people post images of their kids on YouTube and Facebook. "I believe those moments should be shared with a family only," he says. "It shouldn't be a public thing." Though he doesn't
like to dictate what other parents ought or ought not do, he did start a website, MyBabyPlace, where parents can post secure home videos. His is one of numerous similar sites, such as Totsites and Famoodle, that offer family-friendly privacy settings.
About the Author
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Mina Hochberg is a movie critic at amNewYork. She lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn. |
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