An Update on Our Family
2025 · HBO · 60 min · 1 season
S01E03 · Where’s Huxley?
Thu, 30 Jan, 1:00 pm
The episode examines what happens when online vitriol rises and concerned fans turn into critics. The press sheds more light on the Stauffers' online content, including their lavish lifestyle, Huxley's treatment, and their tearful 2020 update on his absence from their life. Brand sponsors drop the Stauffer family and Myka disappears from the internet.
About
An Update on Our Family explores the complex and symbiotic world of family vlogging – a phenomenon in which parents post a steady stream of lifestyle videos on their social media channels to be consumed by loyal subscribers whose views in turn generate money for the vloggers themselves. After controversy around former family vloggers Myka and James Stauffer went public, new scrutiny arose around the industry. The documentary raises questions about what motivates vloggers to expose their lives to the world and examines the issues surrounding making their children's lives public. The three-part series exposes the hidden-in-plain-sight, unregulated family vlogging industry.
Episodes
- E01
Welcome to Our Family
Thu, 16 Jan· 60 minThe episode chronicles the lucrative world of YouTube vlogging, including social media archival footage of Myka and James Stauffer, as well as original interviews with others. Hannah Cho, an avid YouTube consumer, explains how daily videos and constant updates provide a sense of community. Myka Stauffer's wholesome demeanor and willingness to share everything on camera results in huge viewership and brand partners rushing to endorse her. Teasing a "big surprise," the Stauffers, already parents to three children, announce that they are adopting a child from China.
- E02
Damn Good Mom
Thu, 23 Jan· 60 minThe business of family vlogging is explored, examining YouTube's algorithm, which rewards bold thumbnail photos, sensationalist titles, and the need to constantly promote exciting new content. As adoption day approaches, the Stauffers post videos counting down the days. The family continues to earn money from brand sponsors, but after more than two years as the "star" of the Stauffers' vlogs, their adopted son Huxley suddenly disappears and all videos of him go private on their channel.
- E03
Where’s Huxley?
Thu, 30 Jan· 60 minThe episode examines what happens when online vitriol rises and concerned fans turn into critics. The press sheds more light on the Stauffers' online content, including their lavish lifestyle, Huxley's treatment, and their tearful 2020 update on his absence from their life. Brand sponsors drop the Stauffer family and Myka disappears from the internet.