Notes on Squad: The rise and fall of child influencers

Squad: The Rise and Fall of Child Influencers

Introduction to the Squad

The "Squad" refers to groups of kids collaborating to create viral videos.
Example: Piper Raquel, a 15-year-old multimillionaire YouTube star, is central to one such squad.

Members and Initial Content

The squad initially included Sawyer, Hayden, Gavin, Piper, Sophie, and Kris.
They filmed challenge videos together (e.g., chugging water in seven seconds, "Let's Stop Eating Challenge").
These videos garnered millions of views, establishing Piper as an online superstar.

Piper Raquel: A Child Influencer

Piper Raquel gained billions of views and millions of dollars.
Tiffany Smith, Piper's mother, acted as her "momager."
Piper started social media at a young age and some viewers have been watching her since she was eight years old.

Dark Side of Child Influencer Culture

Allegations of exploitation arose, with former squad members and their parents suing.
Claims of long working hours (e.g., twelve-hour days) and unsafe situations were made.
There were accusations of adults directing children to do inappropriate things.
Some felt that the environment was a deceptive "house of horror," not a fun, happy one.
Tiffany was described as yelling and screaming at everyone and creating a "cult-like atmosphere."

Impact on Relationships

The demanding environment strained relationships among squad members.
Some members missed the fun they initially had filming videos together.

Piper's Background and Early Life

Piper's aunt described her upbringing in Canton, Georgia.
Piper's dad left Tiffany when she was pregnant, and Tiffany raised Piper as a single mother.
Piper was an outgoing child who enjoyed dancing, singing, and smiling.

Pageants and Early Success

Piper started participating in pageants at age three, winning her first one on the Fourth of July.
Piper was very successful and enjoyed attention.
Tiffany was highly driven for Piper's success, with a desire to show Piper's dad what he was missing.
Piper participated in bikinis, spray tans, practiced dance moves and Tiffany was not happy with second place.

Transition to Social Media

Tiffany saw the potential in social media after Piper's pageant success.
Piper started on Musically (later TikTok), a lip-sync app created around 2014.
Musically allowed users to create short, funny lip-sync videos. This was popular with children under 13 even though the app wasn't intended for them.
In 2007, "Charlie Bit My Finger" video took off and the ascendance of social platforms started.
By 2011, YouTube had millions of users, and early viral stars included children doing unboxing videos.

Piper's Early YouTube Content

Piper created a fluffy slime video and showcased her natural comfort in front of the camera.

Tiffany's Media Savvy

Tiffany recognized the power of social media for building a brand, making friends, and connecting globally.
She saw an opportunity for Piper and wanted to give her the opportunity.

Appearance on Dance Twins

Piper had her "big break" when cast on "Dance Twins," a reality show.
Tiffany's parenting style was apparent and pushed Piper to succeed.

Education Concerns

Ashley raised concerns about Piper not being in school, emphasizing her right to education.
Tiffany prioritized Piper’s social advancement and performance skills over formal education.

Joining the YouTube Scene

Corinne (another girl) received an invitation to audition as a backup dancer for Piper Raquel.
Corinne and Tiffany bonded over their daughters' shared interests.
Tiffany expressed interest in starting a YouTube channel, seeing the success of other families.

Initial Video Success

Tiffany's first video featuring Piper, "Yeehaw Pam," went viral, gaining over a million views.

Move to Los Angeles

After Dance Twins, Piper’s popularity exploded, leading to a move to LA in 2017 to pursue bigger opportunities.
LA is the center of the Kidfluencer space, with talent managers and agencies.
Tiffany launched Piper's YouTube channel, developing her brand and online personality.

Hunter's Role

Hunter met Tiffany and Piper at a conference in LA and became a character on Piper's channel, posing as her brother.
He was also their editor and did camera work.
Hunter was very supportive of Piper and made her feel safe.
Hunter was Tiffany’s younger boyfriend and moved in with them, he was 19 or 20.

Piper's Personality and Brand

Piper had a natural talent for social media and was perceived as authentic.
Tiffany built Piper’s brand on the appeal of normalcy from a kid’s point of view.

Appearance on "Manny" produced by Brat

Piper landed a role on "Manny," a popular Brat show (essentially the Disney Channel for the internet).
She played Skye, a preppy rich character.
Sophie, who played a goth girl, met Piper and Tiffany on set.
Sophie did not have a social media presence before joining Manny.

Friendship with Sophie

Tiffany invited Sophie to sleepovers and YouTube videos.
Piper and Sophie became close friends and felt understood by each other.

Conflict on Set

Tiffany became angry when another character got more lines than Piper on the show Manny.
Tiffany pulled Piper off the set, argued and screamed and dragged her away.
This incident strained Piper and Sophie's friendship.
Sophie realized Tiffany was unstable and needed to be careful.

Relationship with Claire and Reese

Piper started building a relationship with her cousins, Claire and Reese.

Patience and Tiffany's Relationship

Patience (Piper’s aunt) wanted Tiffany to reconnect with her family, sister and cousins.
Growing up, Tiffany and Patience were close, but they were affected by the divorce.
Patience saw a change in Tiffany, who became more aggressive physically and verbally.

Joining YouTube with Cousins

Claire made her first video with Piper in 2018 and thought she was great.
Claire and Reese also started making videos with Tiffany and Piper.

Formation of the Squad

Tiffany wanted a group of kids like in Friends.
When they filmed all together people said, "it's a squad!" and Tiffany took this and ran with it.
Piper never went to public school meaning she never had a big friend group.
The squad was formed around Piper, with other child content creators as supporting characters.

Squad Concept and Success

Tiffany wasn't the first person to use a "squad."
The Team 10, the Sidemen and group from David Dobrik were all older people who did this on the internet.
The squad saw massive success, gaining viral views and followers.

Public Perception and Ego

Being liked in public boosted confidence and ego.
The squad was at one point the top 11-year-olds in the world.
Large audience attendance at public appearances motivated them to keep going.

Achieving a Million Subscribers

Reaching a million subscribers was a dream come true for the squad.
Piper released her first music video, "Treat Myself," which was about girls at a spa day trying to get boys phone numbers.

Monetization of Content

Piper's YouTube fame increased, and she began earning significant money through YouTube's revenue-sharing program and brand deals.
Influencers can generate millions of impressions for brands, leading to lucrative partnerships (e.g., with Walmart and Mattel).
The content creator industry is predicted to reach half a trillion dollars by 2027.
There are multiple streams of revenue for influencers, including merch sales and touring tickets.

Financial Realities and Exposure

Single moms living in Hollywood were told they could make enough for their bills.
Tiffany promised Corinne’s mom exposure.
Tiffany's proposition was that she could help them make money.

Understanding the Algorithm

Algorithms are built to give people what they want to see.

Hunter's Expertise

Hunter helped suggest content and knew the source for more views.
He knew how to optimize videos with better ads and hashtags.

Channel Control

New squad had to hand over the channel to Hunter.

Moving into The Hollywood Hills

They looked at open houses in the Hollywood Hills.
Tiffany, Hunter, and Piper lived in an apartment, and Sophie and her mom lived in an apartment.
Tiffany, Hunter, and Sophie's mom combined and got a place to shoot content.
Sophie didn’t want to move in because she thought Tiffany was unstable.
Piper wanted Sophie and her mom to move in with her because she said she needed a stable parent.

Demands of Content Creation

Making videos was not fun all of the time because you always had to put on a smile.
They were filming 10 to 15 videos a day
Everyone had to be there at 11AM and shoot until 1AM to 2AM.
Sophie had to do school for three hours and then film.

Tiffany's Control and Demeanor

Tiffany wanted to be in control of what Piper was doing and how the video went.
She would yell at Piper if Piper didn't say something correct.
They were being told what to do like "a puppet".

Child Labor Laws and Protections

Traditional child entertainers are subject to rules that took decades to be put in place.
In the early 1900s famous child stars were not paid and were exploited.
There are no labor protections for new forms of work and new media.
Tiffany and Hunter believed those laws did not apply because they were on YouTube.

Unpleasant Experiences

They went to Bombay Beach and helped rescue cats.
Tiffany had an obsession with cleaning the cats for two hours with bleach water.
They finished the video around 1 AM and cleaning around 3 AM.
Sophie and piper felt asleep bleaching the walls.
It was bad, weird and unfun to do videos.

Focus on Numbers

Once the squad started making money, it became about how many people can we get it to watch.

Uncomfortable Situations

Kids were forced into uncomfortable situations.
The members were once told to be mean to Simone, to ignore her and to not wish her a happy birthday.
What was once fun seemed more cutthroat.
They'd do things that were hurt and made them uncomfortable.

Questionable Content

There was questionable content made to get more likes and views.
There was bullying and degrading behavior from Frank the Pug.
It became a stressful environment.

Gavin and Tiffany's Relationship

Tiffany had a fascination with Gavin that was described as creepy.
Tiffany would flirt with him even though he was only 12 or 13.
There were actions and words that made the situation uncomfortable.

Leaving the Squad

Corinne’s mom put her foot down after hearing about the situations going on a Tiffany’s house.
Corinne got kicked from the group through a group text.
People on social media hated on Corinne and got blacklisted after leaving.

Tiffany's Tactics

Tiffany finds people who want to be famous and take advantage of them.

Drinking and Inappropriate Comments

Tiffany would say inappropriate things around Piper when drinking.

Assault Allegation

During a live stream, Tiffany forced herself on someone.