Local couple Madison and Kyler Fisher’s third daughter, Halston, is due in early March–and tens of thousands of people are eagerly awaiting the announcement. The yet-to-be-born baby’s Instagram account, @halston.blake, has over 62,000 followers. And while that may seem like a lot for a fetus, it’s a tiny fraction of the 2.3 million people following her older sisters, the 2-year-old twins @taytumandoakley. As more Millennials who grew up Very Online start raising kids, sharing the intimate moments of a baby’s life with a crowd of social media followers might become more common–but for now, the Fisher family are early adopters on the early-life influencer game.
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Parents Madison and Kyler initially joined Instagram in 2011, chronicling their courtship, engagement, and marriage on their individual accounts, @madisonbontempo and @kylerstevenfisher. Both are in the entertainment industry, Madison as an actor and Kyler as an actor and film producer.
“In 2014, Madison and I were just a couple of actors running around Hollywood with our heads cut off, trying to book one national commercial a year just to keep our heads above water, until we started this journey which has significantly changed, well, everything,” Kyler Fisher says.
That journey really took off for them on June 23, 2016, when their twin daughters were born.
“When we had the twins, we knew we had something very special and something that set us apart from everyone else,” Kyler Fisher says. “I mean look at those little girls, they are absolutely stunning! Why not give our kids a shot and use what the world gives you?”
Within days of Taytum and Oakley’s birth, the infants had their own account with a post from the hospital showing them swaddled in matching blankets and knit hats. Soon, the account took on a more styled and professional appearance, with the children posing in coordinated outfits, often shouting out the brands they sport, like any good OOTD blogger.
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“I remember saying to Madison, ‘We need to jump on social media full time!'” Fisher says. “Our view of Instagram has definitely changed. We went from its only purpose being a way to showcase our lives to our friends, to now being able to influence people all over the world. Utilizing the platform has afforded our family opportunities we could have only dreamed of.”
Across all the family’s Instagram accounts–which also include a group account at @itskylerandmad–they’ve racked up around 3,567,000 followers. Their YouTube channel has another 2,840,757 subscribers for vlog posts with titles like “Grocery Shopping with Twins” and “New Baby Room Sneak Peek.” Taytum and Oakley also contribute to the family finances by appearing in traditional commercials, booking their first gig at just two months old. And in March, Halston Blake Fisher will join the brood, to the delight of her built-in fan base.
“What are we thinking about this baby Halston account?” Kyler Fisher muses. “I guess we want all of our kids to have the same opportunities, so let’s go. We are an entertainment family.”
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Not everyone has received the #FishFam (their official hashtag, attached to 18,852 public posts on Instagram) warmly or agrees with the way they’ve documented and publicized every moment of their children’s lives.
“Truthfully, we have shared almost every day of their life with the world, which is nuts,” Fisher acknowledges. “In the beginning, the negative comments used to bug us a little, but now we don’t care at all what people say, even with some of the closest people in our lives, family, friends. Jealousy is a real thing.”
Still, Fisher insists, they’re not the overbearing stage parents that critics might assume. While they’ve certainly put their children on display, he knows there may come a time when they no longer wish to participate in the family business–and he’s fine with that.
“If our kids make the choice to bounce from social media or traditional media careers, we won’t stop them,” he says. “This life is about choosing our path. God gave us our agency to choose, why would I take that away from my own kids? Go be who you want to be.”
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