Rima Grace

The vacations, the inside jokes, even the most mundane moments like running errands.

There was something almost addictive about knowing these really intimate details about another family.

It kind of felt like I was peering through a window into their lives.

They were early family influencers before we really had a name for that.

I don't really follow family influencers these days, but when they come across my feed, I have a really hard time looking away.

The details they share have become even more intimate.

Everything from potty training to puberty to their kids' mental health struggles.

What used to feel like looking in from the outside now feels like you're sitting on their living room couch, watching things you're not sure you're supposed to see.

I'm Rima Grace, and welcome to This is Uncomfortable, the weekly show from Marketplace about life and how money messes with it.

Lately, our team has been seeing a wave of stories about this corner of the internet.

Young adults speaking out about what it was like to grow up on camera, being recognized by strangers or teased at school, having some of their most vulnerable moments like hospital stays or their meltdowns filmed and shared for profit.

In a lot of the coverage, we kept seeing the same byline for Tessa Latifi.

Family influencers have been her beat for years, and she just published a book on the subject called Like, Follow, Subscribe, Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online.

In this book, she talked to dozens of influencer families and their kids about what happens when documenting someone's childhood becomes a million-dollar business.

This week, I'm chatting with her about what she found, how family influencing can shape kids' lives, and what it reveals about motherhood and the financial pressures pushing parents to turn their lives into content.

By the way, before we jump into this interview, we always love hearing from you all.

So if anything comes up for you listening to this episode, let us know.

You can call us at 347-RING-TIU.

And be sure to listen to the very end.

We're going to share a sweet call we got from a listener recently.