Over the past two decades, the role of digitalization has grown rapidly and changed the labor market for millions around the globe. According to the “The rise of the platform economy”  report, companies such as Airbnb, Uber, Amazon, Google, and META have created online networks for people to interact and marketers to easily engage with their target audiences. 

Marketing leaders are utilizing cultural branding across social media platforms to reach isolated consumers and have pivoted from solely utilizing traditional creative agencies. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, social media has increasingly impacted consumer culture and has become vital for brands. Forbes recently reported 43% of consumers were using social media to discover new brands and businesses. 

The increased value of social media marketing has created a strong demand for content creators and unique individuals for brands to invest in. The rise of the platform economy is incentivizing content creators to become full-time entrepreneurs which follows the growing trend of ditching traditional constraints of corporate workplace culture. It has also allowed “regular people” to reach fame and become household names. The accessibility of fame has become relatively effortless in the past decade, allowing many to secure TV placements and large endorsement deals as a result of social media.

Although this has offered great opportunities for people to create income, it also generates concern due to the lack of labor rights and regulation on wages within the influencers' marketing platform, especially for “kidfluencers” and POC content creators. 

Child labor and Exploitation

Online platforms have age restrictions for account ownership, meaning some kidfluencers are being managed by their parents or guardians. The raising fame of kidfluencers raises the question of what regulations are put in place to protect children from exploitation. Last year, Britney Spears came forward to shed light on the horrific conditions of her conservatorship and presented allegations of forced labor against her father, who was managing her affairs. The lack of protection between a parent and child creates loopholes that allow for child labor exploitation.  

The current federal child labor laws in place in the United States restricts persons under 14 from occupations, however, the law does not cover the entertainment industry and leaves it to the states. Some advocates are pushing for the Coogan Laws, state-level legislation in California, New York, Illinois, Louisiana, and New Mexico, that requires a contract to set aside child-actor income into a saving account until the child reaches legal age, to include kidfluencers. Although the Coogan Law would financially protect kidfluencers, it still leaves the question of labor exploitation unresolved. 

Racial Economic Inequality

The racial wealth gap and income inequality is not an area that is uncommon with regard to labor rights. According to the Economic Policy Institute,  Black and Hispanic laborers are paid less than white laborers on nearly every educational level.  

Unfortunately, the statistics on the wage gap do not exclude the racial disparities between white content creators and POC influencers, especially members of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Since the murder of George Floyd, increased demand for change has been required from companies and brands to expand DEI initiatives and include marginalized voices within their supply chain.  The demand for racial accountability has created space for marketers to engage and invest in POC and queer influencers, however, the lack of wage regulations allocates room for income inequality. 

According to a new study titled, “Time to Face the Influencer Pay Gap” Black, indigenous, and other POC groups are paid 29% less than their white counterparts, showcasing the income inequality between races and the disparities due to the lack of regulations. Companies must not only invest more in POC influencers but also build strategies to ensure equity is taken into account. 

The platform economy has created opportunities for young, diverse, and marginalized communities to create revenue, however, we must ensure their labor rights are being protected and preventive measures are in place to avoid the growing threat of child exploitation and income disparity.

Some key takeaways that we must continue to ask: