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Dream 2.0: Social media celebrity
It is interesting how children's dreams change as technology advances. In kindergarten, Andrew's dream was to become a fisherman. Yes, the kind that ventures out to the sea on a boat and returns home with a catch to sell at the market. His dream has changed since then but his excitement and curiosity about the ocean floor is still there.
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It is interesting how children's dreams change as technology advances. (Shutterstock.com/Maxxa Satori)
"You know what, my son said he wants to be a famous YouTuber when he grows up," a friend said. "Do I have to worry about that?"
She threw the question at me, knowing how I spent my weekends blogging. But I still have a full-time job.
Then the celebrity vlogger phenomenon hits in with Karin Novilda and Gaga relationship goal drama. Andrew has yet to find out about love but he has started to embrace the vlogger culture with his favorite game walkthrough player, The Red Brat (or is it Brad?).
He said he wanted to be like him one day.
(Read also: The pitfalls and bright points of trophy-children)
It is interesting how children's dreams change as technology advances. In kindergarten, Andrew's dream was to become a fisherman. Yes, the kind that ventures out to the sea on a boat and returns home with a catch to sell at the market. His dream has changed since then but his excitement and curiosity about the ocean floor is still there.
From fisherman, he moved on to be a scientist with a goal to create a zombie virus and antivirus. "What I love about zombies is the evolution, Mom," he reasoned. So science becomes his favorite subject at school. With the increasing game time, he then decided to become a programmer or game designer. A job I put a frown on. The same frown my mom had when I said I wanted to be a writer 20 years ago.
Recently, with YouTube becoming a necessity because he's watching walkthroughs and reviews, he said he wanted to be a YouTuber. Specifically, he wants to play and review games before they are released to the public.
Apparently, this isn't rare. My pre-teen cousins, including those living in Central Java suburbs, are active Instagram users and have been thinking about vlogging. Andrew himself has been doing vlogging when we travel, but we keep them for selected audiences.
I thought, well, this sounds like journalism in the digital era. I remembered my days as a journalist when I got comments of envy from my friends about how cool it was to try-out the latest gadgets and cars before everyone did. So Andrew must be thinking about the same idea, despite his classmates playing completely different types of games.
But should I worry? Andrew threw the question out before I said anything about his upgraded dream. "Mom, how do you make money as a YouTuber?"
I said people may put advertisements on his channel and he'd get paid from that. His next concern was how could he provide for a wife and children, and me when I'm old, if he worked as a YouTuber?
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Well, honestly I don't know. I have no idea how much someone like The Red Brad makes a month and whether it covers living expenses. Karin and Gaga are somewhat privileged kids who probably don't have to worry about money. Although in an interview, Karin admitted to grossing up to Rp 30 million (US$2,287) every two days and that was mostly spent on her beauty maintenance. A lot more than what you make as an office worker doing 9-to-5 on weekdays.
Don't get me wrong. YouTuber, vlogger or anything along that line are great dreams. They're boosting kids’ confidence and they don't require much investment. Unlike our classic childhood dreams of physician and pilot, those fields require plenty of school fees as well as years of training and excellence.
However, these kids need to understand that with great visibility comes great responsibility. Becoming a star, even it’s only on social media, means dealing with the crowd, be it fans or haters. And it’s not something we can prevent.
A dream these days has to be a dream that guarantees your life. And my 10-year-old son somehow thought about a stable income. He's aware that what I earn as a blogger, be it material or privileges, are an extra we have to be thankful for. Not everyone can earn as much as Karin.
So, the last time we had a long conversation about dreams, which started with my question about whether he and his friends know Awkarin and Gaga, he said this, "I still want to be a game walkthrough player when I grow up. But I think I want to work as a full-time game creator in a company. So I can review my own game as a side job. Wouldn’t that be cool?"
Dreams these days apparently include a side job.
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Ruth Ninajanty is a mom blogger who enjoys everyday adventure with her son.
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