Like, Follow, Subscribe

""A balanced, compassionate, and frequently surprising look at an industry most of us know only on a superficial level."" --Booklist ""Like, Follow, Subscribe is the most comprehensive, empathetic, and readable investigation into the child influencers who now dominate our culture. Timely, worrying, and juicy--the book to read whether you're a parent, a creator, or merely a viewer."" --Scaachi Koul, author of Sucker Punch ""With rigor and empathy, Latifi probes the many ways influencing has bent our understanding of labor, privacy, performance, consent, and exploitation. An urgent and timely reassessment of social media and technology today, Like, Follow, Subscribe is a powerful, compassionate look at what happens when childhoods go viral, and what we owe children in a world run by algorithms."" --Amanda Montei, author of Touched Out ""Essential reading for anyone navigating the intersection of childhood, parenthood, technology, and profit. Latifi doesn't just document a trend--she challenges a system."" --Jo Piazza, bestselling author of The Sicilian Inheritance and We Are Not Like Them ""Like, Follow, Subscribe is one of the most powerful books I've read on the social media ecosystem. Latifi's expert depiction of the influencer landscape is equal parts engrossing, illuminating, and alarming. Highly recommended."" --Adam Alter, Professor of Marketing and Psychology, New York University Stern School of Business, and New York Times bestselling author of Irresistible ""Despite the fact that mom influencers and their children comprise a multi-billion dollar industry, few journalists have seriously interrogated the specific role children play within that industry like Fortesa Latifi. Well before most of us were considering the ethics of children performing themselves online, Latifi was writing about the psychological, financial, and cultural implications of children being tasked with 'being themselves' to an audience of strangers. Like, Follow, Subscribe is packed with first person accounts and expert insights. It's essential reading for anyone interested in how and why America buys and sells the Perfect Family(TM).""--Sara Louise Petersen, author of Momfluenced ""Incredibly timely and important--an absolute must-read for anyone who is thinking seriously about parenting in the digital age."" --EJ Dickson, senior writer at The Cut ""Like, Follow, Subscribe is my definitive recommendation for an evidence-based exploration of the digital media and influencer economy, and its profound impact on children and culture. The breadth of Latifi's research and the wealth of firsthand testimony make this a compulsively readable study, one that conjures a portrait even more mesmerizing than the digital selves her subjects have meticulously curated online. Latifi renders digestible the complex intersection of entertainment, technology, childhood development, and consumerism. As a former child actor turned mental health practitioner, I see firsthand the risks and harm facing these children--especially as the digital landscape continues to operate without meaningful regulation. This is our opportunity to disrupt a new and insidious pipeline of child exploitation, one we have, ironically, come to celebrate and consume as entertainment. Latifi doesn't look away, and neither can we. Like, Follow, Subscribe is sobering, courageous, and necessary."" -- Alyson Stoner, New York Times bestselling author of Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything, and certified media mental health coordinator