A mommy blogger's post about her son is going viral for all the wrong reasons
This episode of Black Mirror sucks.
In the ultimate backhanded compliment against her own son, mommy blogger Katie Bower took to Instagram to wish her child a happy sixth birthday, and to lament the fact that "his photos never got as many likes."
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"From a statistical point of view, he wasn't as popular with everyone out there," she complained in the caption, before musing over whether people liked her younger children better because they were babies. "I saw all that because I want to believe that it wasn't him ... that it was on me. My insufficiency caused this statistical deficit because obviously my Munch should get ALL the love and squinty eyes are totally adorable."
Yikes. In the post, which has since been taken down, Bower admits she's worried that her son will "see the numbers" one day and "have to learn that his value is not in online approval."
A post shared by Katie Bower | Bower Power (@bowerpowerblog) on Nov 18, 2018 at 8:49pm PST
Both Instagram and Twitter users responded, horrified that she would put so much value on her kid's internet popularity.
Omg this Instagram mommy blogger is celebrating her sons bday by writing about how out of all her kids, he “statistically” performs the worse on her Instagram. And she’s worried one day it will ruin his self esteem 👀💀 pic.twitter.com/QpFfJwDOab
— Stephanie McNeal (@stephemcneal) November 19, 2018
This is like when my parents grounded me because I slacked on producing content and my Klout score dropped to 57
— Prufrock451 (@prufrock451) November 19, 2018
Image: instagram/bowerpowerblog
"one day he will see these numbers"
I am mystified and horrified at the level of self-involvement.— SharkHand (@SharkHand) November 19, 2018
Image: instagram/bowerpowerblog
before she can teach her son 'his value is not in online approval,' she needs to learn that lesson herself.
— Lauren Kleiman (@laurkleiman) November 19, 2018
Image: instagram/bowerpowerblog
Oh. My. God. What in the hell??
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) November 19, 2018
— leon (@leyawn) November 19, 2018
Some were supportive, but still gently criticized her for her caption.
"All my love, Katie ..." one follower said. "But maybe some things are better left off Instagram."
Image: instagram/bowerpowerblog
Image: instagram/bowerpowerblog
Bower also faced backlash in September, when she admitted that she "had literally no idea what the deal was with 9/11" and that she "didn't realize that people were actually in the buildings."
"It didn't hit me until a year later that so many people died," she captioned a photo of her sons patriotically sitting on a bale of hay.
A post shared by Katie Bower | Bower Power (@bowerpowerblog) on Sep 12, 2018 at 6:57pm PDT
"Unfortunately there is always backlash when things are twisted and taken out of context," Bower said in an Instagram DM, but said that the messages of support she's received "makes being vulnerable worth it."
Bower says that Weston doesn't know what Instagram is, but knows that "Mommy has a job on the computer that means we have friends all over the world that we have never met in person."
At least he doesn't care about clout!