‘The Bachelor’ Fans Are Concerned Over Alessi Luyendyk’s Baby Instagram Account — ‘It Feels Exploitive’
Although there was quite a bit of drama surrounding the choices of Arie Luyendyk Jr. on The Bachelor Season 22 — two years later — fans now happily follow him and his wife, Lauren Burnham, on social media. The couple faced a lot of backlash after the finale, but today they are married and have a daughter, Alessi Luyendyk. The latest controversy is not over their relationship but instead their one-year-old daughter’s personal Instagram account.
‘The Bachelor’ couple Arie and Lauren created an Instagram account for their daughter
When the account for Alessi began, it was merely a series of baby bump pictures of Lauren. The captions all read in the first person as if the baby was talking from inside the womb. Fans loved watching Lauren’s progression and pregnancy story. However, when their daughter arrived on May 29, 2019, the account became focused only on Alessi.
“Sorry, guys, I know it’s been a while,” the caption of one photo of Alessi read. “I’ve had so many calls to take on my pink phone, but putting it down to post this and say hi.”
Many fans follow the young toddler and leave numerous comments about how adorable she is. Alessi has over 300 thousand followers and is a verified celebrity on Instagram. The Luyendyks continue to caption the photos as if the baby is writing the posts herself. Mom and Dad appear in only a few pictures.
Fans commented that the Luyendyks’ baby Instagram account ‘feels exploitive’
The Bachelor fans point out that they understand the stars use their social media accounts to pay their bills because it’s their job. However, the viewers believe creating accounts for their children is crossing the line.
“But monetizing your small children like that, with their own account,” one fan wrote on Reddit. “I don’t know; it feels exploitive. I don’t really have an issue with the mom blogger type that talks about their kids/family on their own account, but running an account for a kid who can’t even talk, that’s next level.”
Since Alessi’s account has over 300 thousand followers, she is considered an influencer on Instagram. By tagging businesses in her photos, the toddler could make $922.5 – $1,537.5 off of each post, according to the Influencer Marketing Hub.
“I feel bad for all these kids who are going to grow up on social media with zero control over their own online presence,” continued the fan.
The Luyendyks aren’t the only ‘Bachelor’ couple to have Instagram accounts for their children
Bachelor in Paradise couple Jade and Tanner Tolbert also have Instagram accounts for their children — Emerson Avery Tolbert and Brooks Easton Tolbert. They are expecting a third baby in November 2020. Both accounts are also verified celebrity accounts, and also have enough followers to be influencers.
However, the Tolberts’ baby accounts have fewer ads/tags than the Luyendyk baby account. Some parents use the social media site as an electronic journal, and a way to share photos with family and friends.
“I kind of see it in a different way than the rest of the comments,” another Redditor wrote. “I figured the parents get a lot of comments like ‘post more of (baby name)!!’ They got tired of people only commenting on their posts, so they just made an account, so there’s one place with baby content.”
