What's your child's playlist when it comes to social media?

Andrew, Charles, Graci and Randi at Playlist Live Orlando

It's summer and that's means most kids are out of school, on vacation and have more time to be on their phones or other electronics. It's the age we live in and we can't do too much about it. As a mom, I try to keep up with my kids and what they are doing on their electronics. I have two daughters ages 12 and 13, so as you can imagine they are on either their phones and iPads quite a bit. What's interesting is what my kids do on their phones and iPads. Most of the time they are watching videos made by YouTubers. YouTubers are people who create videos and usually star in the videos. These videos can be anything from their everyday life to do-it-yourself (diy) videos. These YouTubers or video creators have a fan base. It's incredible when you really start learning about this whole new world of  social media stars.

These YouTubers are like Hollywood actors and actresses, most of them though aren't on the big screen or on television. They are on social media sites mainly YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Musical.ly. And yes, they do make money, some of them make millions of dollars.

I recently went with my girls and my friend's twin boys to a convention called Playlistlive in Orlando. It's a place where fans and YouTubers meet.  I took my older daughter Randi by herself the year before and she loved it so much that my other daughter Graci wanted to go this year. It's the eighth year the convention has gone on and it truly was an eye opener to me. I had no idea what it was all about until going the first year and this year I learned even more about this whole new world of social media from how my kids are influenced to how companies are marketing.

This convention had all types of YouTubers and Creators. There are about 500 of them and more than 13,000 fans from all over the United States. The convention sells out every year. It is three days long and brings in fans from all walks of life and ages mainly from 13-25 with about 80 percent who are female. The event includes concerts, panels, meet-and-greets and fan convention.

My kids have their list of YouTubers they watch daily and some of them were at this convention. They also met new people who they now follow. When you buy your passes you can purchase meet-and-greets with the YouTuber or creator you want to meet. These meet-and-greets are great for the fans. The fans get to talk to their favorite celebrities, take photos and get autographs. The YouTubers are wonderful and really take time with each fan. Most of the kids I saw and talked to loved this part of the event. Some were even star struck.

It's funny as a parent to watch some of the YouTubers who have a huge following go in the lobby of the hotel and have kids yelling and chasing them down the hall. It's as if the Beatles were there. I am not kidding! There's lots of security at this event, so not to worry too much, but still you have to watch your kids.

I found there was plenty to do throughout the three days. My kids had meet-and-greets and we watched some of the concerts. One of the concerts my daughter Randi loved was with Scotty Sire, a YouTuber who does daily vlogs and some music. She actually had been practicing one of his songs on piano "Mr. Glassman" for a few months prior and when she heard he was coming to Playlist, she was so excited to see him live. Yes, she even got a photo with him when he was walking down the hall.

During the convention they have an area where they sell merchandise. This year there were more vendors. I always like to ask the vendors how the YouTubers help them with their products. One of the vendors was trying to launch their makeup website called Wheesearch, where they help people find the right makeup products. They were looking for a vlogger to help them out. I interviewed the founder of the company and she told me by the end of the convention it looked like they had found someone.    

Another company Crofter's Premium Spread, sells organic jams and they were there because last year a YouTuber  Thomas Sanders, said in one of his videos, "This is the only jelly I'll put in my belly," and their jelly sales skyrocketed. They ended up making him a spokesperson for their jelly and even came out with a special jelly called "Logan's Berry" named after one of his characters on his YouTube channel. They were giving out samples at the convention and of course my daughter had me buy it.

Yes, YouTubers are huge influencers on our kids of today. It's important to know who your kids are watching.

To see behind the scenes videos and interviews from Playlistlive go to Kadi's Facebook page www.facebook.com/mom2momwithkadi

The celebrities of today's youth are the stars of social media sites

My daughter, Randi, at one of the meet and greets with YouTuber
Weston Koury at Playlist Live Orlando.

(This blog post and article previously ran on May 17, 2017. Playlist Live will be coming up March 1-3 2019, so I thought I would re-run it. I wil be at the event with my two girls, so follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/mom2momwithKadi and Twitter @Kadinewsgal for live updates.)

Recently I learned how the kids of today, including my own two girls Randi, 12, and Graci, 11, and their friends, are finding entertainment through social media. When I was a kid, one of my favorite shows was the Monkees, a musical acting quartet. I watched it almost every day on television and just loved Davy Jones. I always dreamed of meeting Davy Jones and the rest of the Monkees, but that dream never became a reality.

Today, our kids are viewing their favorite stars through social media sites like YouTube, Musically, Twitter and Instagram.  I am not saying kids don't watch television anymore, but if you ask the youth of today who some of their favorite celebrities are, you may be surprised they are from social media. This is a whole new world to me and maybe to some of you, who are reading this article.

My daughter Randi  has been asking me for the past two years to go to a social media convention called Playlist Live. It's an annual three day conference  held twice a year for primarily YouTube content creators and their fans. It is held in Orlando and Washington D.C.  I had no idea what it was and at first said no. After finding out a little bit more about it from a friend who was taking her daughter, I decided to take Randi so I could share my experience with other parents.

Playlist Live Orlando, kids wait for hours
to see some of their favorite social media
creators.

I wanted to get the history of this event, so  I reached out to the co-founder and president of Playlist Live, Alex Tchekmeian. He told me Playlist Live has been going on for the past 10 years and for 7 years in Orlando. Every year it has sold out. The average demographic is ages 13-25 and about 80 percent are female. Since 2011, they have grown 2000 percent with 13,000 attendees this year and 500- plus creators. The event includes meet-and-greets along with stage performances and workshops. "You'll find people from all walks of life attending, from young fans to aspiring-up-and comers to established top-tier creators and industry pros," said Tchekmeian.

These statistics are amazing and as a parent, we need to be aware of what this means and how social media is growing.

These social media creators are celebrities especially to the attendees who paid at least $150 to come get a glimpse of their favorite YouTubers or Musical.ly stars. Some attendees were able to get up close and personal taking photos and talking at meet and greets arranged throughout the weekend. I saw kids who were so excited to see those they follow and like on social media. Some crying tears of joy and others screaming when their favorite YouTuber walked by.

Melissa Williams with granddaughter
Bailey from Lake City, FL
 and Kylie Fender attend
 one of the meet and greets.

I talked to several parents at the event about their experience.  Those with their kids had to pay $125 to follow their child around. As a parent, they felt it necessary to be near their kid and they could take the photos of their child with the social media stars. One parent I talked to, Maureen Sullivan,  traveled from Long Island, New York with her 15-year-old daughter Jillian Sullivan and her daughter's friend Kaitlin Cavanaugh. 

Jillian Sullivan and her friend
Kaitlin Cavanaugh travel from Long
Island, New York with
Jillian's mom Maureen to see
their favorite YouTubers.

She bought the tickets, airfare and the hotel for her daughter as a present for her upcoming 16th birthday. Sullivan said she thought the event was well run. Even though security was everywhere and she gave her daughter some freedom to roam, she still felt the need to be with her at the event.  "I was impressed. The whole message and agenda is positive for all ages. No bullying, no drugs.  Very clean entertainment, " she said.

Lily LaBrant, Tate LaBrant, Everleigh
Soutas, Ken LaBrant, Cole LaBrant and
Savannah Soutas all social media stars
who attended Playlist Live.

While there we ran into Seminole native Ken LaBrant, who has his whole family involved in creating videos. His son Cole LaBrant, 20, started a few years ago on the social media site Vine and acquired quite the following with more than six million followers. Now he's on other social media sites along with his fiancé Savannah Soutas and her 4-year-old daughter Everleigh. 

Everleigh Soutas entertaining at
Playlist Live.

Together they do a variety of videos. Ken LaBrant told me it's not unusual for these social media kids to make a couple hundred grand  a month. "Want to go into acting. It doesn't pay unless you are an A-lister. This is very lucrative," said LaBrant. LaBrant's family just did a promotional video for Disney. His son Cole has companies all the time asking him to endorse products ranging from Coca Cola to Hewlett Packard just to name a few.

Cole LaBrant signs autographs at
Playlist Live.

Hunter Rowland takes a photo with
his fans!

My daughter, Randi loved it and her dreams came true after meeting some of her favorite social media celebrities like Weston Koury, Hunter Rowland, Cole LaBrant and the Daily Bumps.  She said she likes watching videos rather than television because "There's always something original on YouTube and you can always find something you like." She said was excited to meet and talk to the people she watches daily.

Randi with social media
creators of Daily Bumps,
Missy, Bryan, Oliver
and Finley.

What is fascinating to me is most of these YouTubers were so friendly and willing to take photos and give out autographs giving kids like my daughter and her friends, which is an experience most would never dream of, but times have changed and we are in the age of social media.