I have an 8 yo that _really_ wants to do videos. Just this morning, she helped her mother cook the meal, but she wanted to roleplay as if she was recording a YT video like the ones she watches.

It was honestly hilarious - I was HW just across a door - but at the same time frightening when you think about how much this new media permeates our society.

P.S.: Having already lost the war with my daughters from a previous marriage, we are fighting tooth and nail with this one regarding technology access. But boy, even for 2 grown ups it is really hard to fight a kid in this war.

Kids want to emulate what they see, especially in "fun" entertainment. My grandfather wanted to become a circus clown. My dad talked about western-style indigenous Americans. My He-Man/GI-Joe-drenched childhood was filled with dreams of becoming a warrior/soldier. And today the heroes of "fun" entertainment are YouTubers and Twitch streamers.

The permeation you experience has been happening for a long time, only now you notice it, because the world she wants to emulate is borderline alien to you.

Don't worry, most of the times, it is a phase.

And I at age 8 couldn't wait to be old enough to be a pokémaster.

That too was just a phase :)

I absolutely never go around pretending like I'm narrating a movie, no siree, not me.

"In a woooorld, where EVERYone watches movies, one person is narrating their own life. This june: one person, one hn, one narration. Toxik!"

Narrator's voice: They did!

Our 13 year old has the youtube culture ingrained as well, with a lot of things he feels like he should voice his opinion even if nobody asked, or he comes out with some BS that he knows nothing about, but instead of going "I don't know" he'll just say it with confidence. I'm sure that's a youtube thing, because silence and not having an opinion won't get you those dank views.

Is this my "get off my lawn" moment?

> I'm sure that's a youtube thing

That's a human thing. Has been happening for centuries.

That's just what kids do for fun. When I was growing up, we were reenacting scenes from Jackass.

Not sure if you are making a pretty fun joke, or telling us an horrible truth.

I think it is both. We laughed a lot, but also realized that what our dreams show us are sometimes just 'ads' for a life that society expects us to live.

There's no reason for a three year old to be watching ads in 2021.