Peer-reviewed article
Branded childhood: Infants as digital capital on Instagram
Ylva Ågren ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view ·Key points
Limitations
Abstract
The relationships between childhood, labour and value are changing in today’s digital culture. Drawing on a visual discourse analysis of 10 Scandinavian influencers’ Instagram accounts, this paper explores how the connections between the commercialisation and sacralisation of children appear in the digital age. The results show how infants function as digital capital for building relationships between consumers and products and how they are structured into a framework around consumption and used in narratives to strengthen the parents’ brand. The findings suggest an urgent need for a legal framework for child labour in social media.