Family vlogging is a huge industry across social media platforms, and HBO's new documentary An Update On Our Family goes inside the world of families who live their lives for all the world to see.
The three-part documentary premieres Wednesday, January 15, at 9 pm ET/PT on HBO. The series takes a deep-dive into the world of family blogging through the lens of Myka and James Stauffer, a wife and husband team of vloggers who put their family on the internet for the world to see. But fame comes with a price.
Here's the synopsis of An Update On Our Family: "Inspired by a New York Magazine article by Caitlin Moscatello, the series dives into the popular practice of family vlogging and the rise and fall of Ohio-based vlogger parents Myka and James Stauffer, who gained massive popularity through their widely watched YouTube channels that had a combined following of roughly one million subscribers by 2020. The Stauffers were known for their honest and revealing portrayal of the highs and lows of parenting young kids. In 2017, the then-parents-of-three adopted a two-and-a-half-year-old boy from China and named him Huxley, documenting the entire adoption process and subsequent family adjustments to a new family member. Voracious followers kept up and Huxley himself became an audience driver for their channel. One day, three years later, Huxley mysteriously stopped appearing on the Stauffer’s page, sparking a whirlwind of online speculation about his whereabouts."
The first episode introduces viewers to the world of YouTube vlogging and the Stauffer family. The second episode, airing Jan. 22, features an in-depth look at how the social media algorithms reward enticing photos and video titles that lure in more viewers. Finally, in the third episode airing Jan. 29, the series explores the darker side of family vlogging and what happens when fans become critics.
Weaving throughout the documentary are accounts of the Stauffer's story, including a look at archival footage from the Stauffers and other family bloggers with insight from experts and fans. The series not only explores the challenges of family vlogging but also the things that make it so attractive to creators and viewers alike.
An Update On Our Family airs Wednesdays at 9 pm ET/PT on HBO and Max.
