My mom is an influencer – I hate it but she won’t stop
It’s been a while since *Georgia’s mom decided to become an influencer, but the last three months have become particularly stressful.
What started as a slightly embarrassing hobby quickly developed into a nightmare, with her mom Helen* taking every opportunity to film content from daily aspects of her life.
Now the 16-year-old is up to her eyeballs in influencer content, and she feels like she’s drowning.
Mom livestreams every part of family’s life
It’s got to a point where no part of their life goes unrecorded, Georgia said.
“Everything she does is now posted or live-streamed online,” she confessed. “Even if somewhere says don’t photograph or film she’d find a way to film it.”
Taking to Reddit, Georgia explained all the times her mum had taken things too far and made a wonderful family experience into something less sentimental.
During a holiday, the American family arrived at a hotel after an eight-hour drive, only to be told by Helen to avoid sitting on the beds.
See, she had to film the process of entering their hotel, filming the beds, the views, everything.
If she couldn’t create content out of something, she wasn’t interested.
“She’d take her time in areas she could photograph even if it was a rock (actual thing), but when me, my dad and brother tried to enjoy a non-aesthetic place, I felt rushed like she wanted to just go,” Georgia wrote.
It’s also affected regular parts of their day, like meal times.
“When we got a chance to eat dinner, she took my food before I got a chance and was recording it saying things like ‘Oooh how delicious,’ and I was so tired and hungry I just gave up and started tearing up,” she wrote.
Another time, they were on a boat to Alcatraz, but Helen couldn’t help but livestream her journey the entire time.
“She was calling out followers thanking them and saying how much she loved them all,” her daughter wrote.
“I thought it was so disrespectful especially because it was a public area and not everyone wants to be filmed, and also the history of the island makes me feel that it needs to be respected and not treated as a background to a video.”
But it was Georgia’s 16th birthday that got her blood boiling.
The teenager explained she didn’t want a birthday party, fully aware that her mum would likely take over the entire celebrations, but her mum wasn’t taking ‘No’ for an answer.
“So, she threw a giant party claiming it was for her anniversary, my brother’s graduation, and my birthday,” Georgia said.
In the lead-up to the event, Georgia decided she would perform in front of the 150 guests and practised her routine for months before the big day.
But when the multi-hyphen party finally rolled around, Helen couldn’t put her phone down for a second to enjoy the event.
“I don’t even know how much of that party she wasn’t on her screen for since she was constantly filming and uploading it, along with a lot of her friends,’ Georgia said, adding the “idea of her filming and uploading” her routine made her so nervous she backed out of the performance.
“I don’t like being photographed or filmed, even as a kid I didn’t,” she said.
Georgia couldn’t stop listing the embarrassing and disheartening moments she shared with her online-obsessed mother, but one particular part of her life affected her the most.
“She gives [her followers] so much more attention than me,” a heartbroken Georgia said.
“She goes off on my dad about how much closer I am with him than her, but I asked to watch a movie with her and she declines. Her reasoning is always that she has a live stream later [that] she’s hosting, or a video to film, or her followers are live,” she continued.
Georgia feels like she’s “going crazy” around her mother, “exposed” to the world without permission or control over her own self.
“My dad keeps saying she views the world through [a] lens and I have no clue if this is how parents are nowadays but it’s terrible,” she said, adding he has scolded Helen several times for taking her “hobby” too far.
“I’m so sorry if anyone else has to grow up like this.”
“This is disgusting behaviour from a mother”
The Reddit community could only share their apologies to Georgia for her mother’s intense love of being an influencer.
“I’m so sorry,” someone began. “She has lost the plot completely and cares more about being loved and respected strangers than she does her own family.”
“This is disgusting behaviour from a mother,” said another. “I always thought being an influencer’s kid would be horrible.”
“Just remember, this is her choice. Not yours. You weren’t given one,” wrote a third.
Others gave Georgia some needed advice.
“As much as you can, refuse to participate,” read a suggestion. “Don’t do things if she’s filming, eat your food right when it arrives, [and] hold your hand in front of your face.”
“I read a story about an influencer kid who had jumpers made saying ‘I don’t consent to my image being used’ and other things of the similar type as well as having some as swear words,” said another.
*Names have been changed.
