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. 

Know what your kids are being taught and have discussions

Today's world is so different than when I went to school. I think the biggest differences are the internet and social media. Our youth today have so much technology and in an instant they can Google something, send a text or take a photo of something or someone and sometimes not realize the consequences of their actions.

My daughter, Randi is in eighth grade and one of the classes she has to take for eight grade is health. Students in Pinellas County School's have to take health for a semester in sixth grade and in eighth grade. Most kids take health at school, but my daughter is taking it online through Pinellas County Virtual School. One of the topics recently was suicide. I have such mixed emotions about teaching suicide, even though I know suicide prevention needs to be taught. Sometimes I think it can also have the opposite affect and put ideas in kids heads.

Because Randi takes the class online she doesn't have people in a classroom setting or the teacher really to have discussions about what she sees and hears. Luckily she talks to me about her online classes. Recently she was crying after watching a video her teacher had assigned. It was a real life suicide video created by a girl who took her life after being bullied. Her name was Amanda Todd. The video wasn't the actual suicide, but it was a video the seventh grader had done with flash cards and words about her life and about the one mistake she regretted doing on social media with friends and how she was then was bullied. It was about why she didn't want to live anymore. At the end of the video it showed her wrists with cuts. It was very sad and a little much for an eighth grader to watch alone. The end of the video shows the words "I have no body. I need someone." Randi told me, "Mom, I wish I could have been her friend. I would have been her friend." It just breaks my heart for this young middle school girl who felt she had no one. I can't even imagine what her family is going through.  

I was glad Randi told me about the video and how she was feeling after seeing it. We talked about it and I told her how no matter what happens in life, nothing is worth killing yourself over. It also gave me a chance to discuss social media and let her know that we need to be careful about what we put online. The girl in the video made a mistake by taking photos of herself without clothes on and it was out on the internet. Kids need to know what they post is out there and a lot of times can't be erased.

I know the class gets into how to try and prevent suicide and what to say to a friend who may be thinking about it, so I do think kids need to know this. They also need to know tomorrow is another day and it will get better.

I really try to stay on top of Randi's online classes, but sometimes it's hard to know everything that's going on in the classes. Parents if your kids are taking online classes know what they are studying and viewing. I don't think we can ever be too careful about what our kids are being taught. Discuss with your kids their classes and what they are learning. I know sometimes what my kids are being taught in school doesn't always agree with my way of thinking. It's a way for you to have discussions about topics and to listen to your kids and also for you to give your kids advice on situations.

Just remember to instill in your kids your values and let them know how much you love them every day. They need to hear it. Today's world is tough for young kids and if they don't get it from you they will get it from somewhere else. As a parent, it is our responsibility to help our kids and be there for them.

Start Talking to your Kids about Video Footprints

Youth Pastor Andrew Larsen gives tips to parents
about social media safety at Faith Community Church

I attended a parent’s social media workshop at Faith Community Church recently with the youth pastor Andrew Larsen.  Even though, I feel I am pretty up on social media, I know there is always something new happening that I need to be aware of. As parents, we need know as much as we can about social media so we can keep up with our kids. Larsen made a really good point that now parents don’t only have to talk to their kids about the birds and the bees, but we have something new to talk to them about called video footprints. A set of prints that can’t be taken away once they are in cyber space.

Some students at Osceola Fundamental High School know this all too well after several students were mortified when improper photos they sent to friends ended up getting posted on social media and their classmates saw it. Parents need to talk to their children and remind them anything they send, post or share with even their “friends” can be broadcast to the world with a click of the button and it can’t be taken back.

I have two young girls ages 9 and 10, so they aren’t into what the teens are into yet, but I am concerned and worried about what social media is going to be like in a few years. Look at how it has taken off in just a few years.

Every day there is a new app out there. If you can think of it, there’s an app for it. I am not kidding. I don’t really download apps so when Larsen started naming a few apps, I was saying in my mind, “really??” Did you know there’s an app to let you know the best time to go to the restroom during a movie? There really is. Unbelievable!

Larsen mentioned that most parents are on Facebook, but our kids are on Instagram. Instagram is a photo sharing site and not for kids under 13 years of age. Larsen says when apps give age restrictions parents should abide by them. He also said to be cautious of the geo specific apps that are out there, like the app that was used in the Osceola High School saga. The geo specific apps have changed the most out of all the apps.

Larsen had 5 great tips.

1.     Talk to your kids early and often.

2.     Be curious about your kid’s devices and what they are doing on them. Ask questions.

3.     Leverage social media’s potential for good.

4.     Go dark as a family and turn off and unplug your devices at night. Make sure kids turn in their devices to you before they go to bed.

5.     Remember what is at stake. It’s not about technology; it’s about your kids.

As parents, we have to be in control what are kids are doing on social media. I know it’s easy to let the device be a babysitter for younger kids or become a shallow relationship for teens. Limit the screen time your kids have on devices. Check up on your kids. It’s not invading their privacy. It’s being a good parent, so your child doesn’t get hurt.