The rise of dadfluencers has also been fueled by the booming popularity of TikTok. “With Instagram, a lot of men were uncomfortable with putting up these edited, staged pictures and captions,” said James Nord, a founder of Fohr, an influencer marketing firm in New York City. “But TikTok has been a great entry point for a lot of dad influencers, because it comes across like you’re documenting your life in a natural way, and you don’t have to put yourself out there as much.”
Advertisers are taking note. “Dad influencers are a kind of Trojan horse for brands,” Mr. Nord said. “They are speaking to an audience that might not traditionally think of themselves as looking to other men on the internet for, say, fashion advice. But other dads are an easy entry point. And all of a sudden, here’s someone people trust and relate to, talking about new pants that they love. People might not even realize that they’re being influenced by this. They weren’t coming to that person for style advice, but that’s what they’re getting.”
Another reason that dads are curious to see how other dads parent is that they’re in largely uncharted territory, compared with previous generations. In 2016, dads in the United States reported spending an average of eight hours a week on child care — about triple the time that dads contributed in 1965, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.
Dads also said they spent about 10 hours a week on household chores in 2016, an increase from four hours in 1965. (Alas, while dads are doing more, a major gender gap persists: Mothers spent about 14 hours a week on child care and 18 hours a week on housework in 2016.)
The pandemic was brutal for parents in general (particularly moms, data shows), but dads were less likely to have the support systems that women are socialized to cultivate in times of hardship (also known as the “tend and befriend” response to stress).
“Traditionally, dads haven’t really talked about parenting. My friends and I certainly didn’t,” said Thomas Piccirilli, a web developer and father of two in Monmouthshire, England, who posts under the Instagram account @the.dad.vibes, which has about 250,000 followers. “I think a big reason that what I was doing resonated was that I was honest and genuine about what I was experiencing.”
