Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing Review
Director: Jenna Rosher and Kief Davidson
Date Created: 2025-04-09 21:53
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Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing Review: This three-episode documentary series on Netflix is directed by Jenna Rosher and Kief Davidson. It’s based on the true story of young YouTuber Piper Rockelle and her troop of Taurus friends who became internet stars by the time of their teens. To outsiders, their lives seemed fun and venturous, filled with challenges, pranks, dance videos and the like. But behind all of that, something darker was happening, and this series attempts to show what really went down off-screen.
Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing Review
Honestly, I wasn’t sure I would even like Netflix’s Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing series. I don’t often watch documentaries like this, and I’ve always found the idea of child influencers a little strange. Why are kids being pressured to become online stars? Why can’t they just enjoy their childhood, go to school, have fun with their friend, and do something normal? Watching this show just intensified those questions for me.
I was uncomfortable. Not because the Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing series was bad, but because the truth it depicted was difficult to swallow. The kids seemed happy in their videos, but once you hear what was actually going on behind the cameras, it’s truly heartbreaking. The people who were meant to care for them were the ones applying the pressure. That really bothered me.
What surprised me most was the degree of power some parents had over their kids’ internet careers. In this case, Piper’s mother played a huge role in managing everything. But rather than defend her daughter and the other kids, it appeared she was exploiting the kids to increase her own success. I found this quite disturbing. Supporting your child’s dream is one thing, but treating them as a product just so you can get more likes and money is a whole different ball game.
With each episode of Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing, I thought, “Where is the line?” These are kids, not actors or adults, who chose this profession. They did not yet know what they were getting into. And when things became toxic or stressful, they couldn’t escape. That’s not just sad but it’s dangerous. No child should have to live like that to maintain an image online.
The Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing documentary featured other kids who once had a place on Piper’s team. Some of them spoke about the treatment they received, and those parts made me really stop and think. These weren’t attention-seeking types; they looked truly wounded and worn out. You could sense their pain in how they reminisced about the past.
Even those kids’ parents had mixed feelings. Others pulled their kids when things got worse; some stayed too long in that situation. I’ll be frank — I judged them too at the beginning. Later thought, maybe they just didn’t know what the hell was going on. Or maybe they were just as confused, making the best choices they could for their kids. Parenting is difficult, particularly in a world that prizes fame and money.
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And there were occasions when I felt vaguely frightened about how normalised this has become. But kids are everywhere online these days. Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram — they’re everywhere. And many times, it isn’t even their choice. They’re just doing what adults do when adults tell them to do things. And that’s why I feel like this documentary is important. This isn’t only about Piper and her group — it’s about the larger issue of what we do to kids in cyberspace.
One of the parts that slapped me in the face was watching Piper’s old videos while having her behind-the-camera life in the back of my mind. It made me feel really sad. Then she seemed like she was having fun, but now I wonder, was she having any of it? Or was she merely trying to keep everyone happy? Hard to say, but it reminded me of the fact that we never really know what is going on in someone else’s life simply by looking at his or her social media.
After finishing the series, I had so many emotions. I was mad at the people who made this happen. I really sympathised with the kids who had to endure all of this. I also felt a little powerless because the truth is, this kind of thing is still happening to this day. Children are still being used for views, and there aren’t enough rules to protect them.
Summing Up
Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing Docuseries made me feel a lot of things about how we treat children in the digital age. If you care about children or you are a person who watches young creators online, this is definitely a worthwhile investment of your time. Just be prepared to feel angry, sad and, perhaps, slightly guilty because we all have a stake in this, whether we know it or not. It is eye-opening, emotional and slightly terrifying. But the truth is, sometimes the truth needs to be uncomfortable in order for us to learn from it.
The documentary Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing is now streaming on Netflix.
