How do you know you’ve arrived as a YouTube child star? When the toys you’re unboxing and featuring have been custom made for your very own brand.
That’s big. In one of her latest videos, for example, the superstar Ukrainian 7-year-old known simply as Diana unpacks her new custom roller skates. And a custom-made Diana doll that looks just like her and … has fun skating around her house.
Which, I might add, has marble floors.
That’s because little Diana’s main channel (one of 13 shared by herself and her brother, Roma) has a staggering 84.5 million subscribers. Add all those channels together and they total 208 million subscribers. That’s roughly the size of Nigeria, the seventh biggest nation on Earth. Similar to kid-based channels such as Like Nastya and Vlad and Niki, Diana’s videos feature a mix of unboxings, light educational lessons, original songs and general silliness of the kid kind.
The content in Kids Diana Show videos is the very definition of light and innocuous. Diana and her brothers, Roma and toddler Oliver, like to play and have fun. Videos are clearly scripted, sometimes including sing-along songs or playful animation. Sometimes the siblings give each other challenges. Other times they might, say, learn how to make ice cream or decorate their room for a certain holiday. For the most part, it’s a lot of simple and colorful fun.
As we’ve talked about with regard to some similar kids unboxing and toy-focused channels, there’s an unmistakable element of consumerism here—the not-so-subtle message that joy revolves around getting fun new stuff. That idea is even communicated on Kids Diana Show’s “About” section for the channel, where we read a message from her (it would seem) that says, “I’ll show you a new entertainment for children, and the most interesting games, New toys. I will share with you the best moments of your life!”
Kids Diana Show has few—if any, really—traditional Plugged In content concerns. You’re not going to find language or sensuality or violence here. Just kids playing, singing and learning in lightly scripted video vignettes.
As noted above, the concern with channels like this one is more philosophical in ways that it might reinforce materialistic impulses for kids who get drawn in to watching lots of videos on YouTube channels like Kids Diana Show.
After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.
