Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public RecordsArchive-It Partner Since: Apr, 2007Organization Type: State Archives & LibrariesOrganization URL: http://www.lib.az.us/ The Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records ensures that the Arizona Legislature and Arizonans have access to the information they need today, and the history of Arizona for tomorrow, through partnerships with all types of cultural and public information institutions.The agency provides access to unique historical and contemporary resources in the areas of law, government, genealogy and Arizoniana. The agency includes the official archives of the state, a state and federal publications depository library, the state law library, the Capitol Museum, and a genealogy and maps collection. The agency also offers special services for the visually and physically impaired, services to public libraries, and the public records management program. ||||| 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." 
 
 "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." 
 
 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 
 
 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. 
 
 "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! ||||| This is a set of web collections curated by Mark Graham using the Archive-IT service of the Internet Archive. They include web captures of the ISKME.org website as well as captures from sites hosted by IGC.org.These web captures are available to the general public.For more information about this collection please feel free to contact Mark via Send Mail ||||| "His photos never got as many likes. Never got as many comments. From a statistical point of view, he wasn't as popular with everyone out there." 
 
 Katie Bower is a DIY and parenting blogger who has more than 52,000 followers on Instagram. Instagram: @bowerpowerblog 
 
 Bower and her husband, Jeremy, have five children — four boys and a baby daughter — and live in Georgia. 
 
 This week, the second of her four sons turned 6, so Bower posted on Instagram and Facebook to mark his birthday. Katie Bower 
 
 BuzzFeed News is choosing not to name or show recent identifying photos of Bower's children, as they are all minors. 
 
 The message started out pretty normal, with Bower discussing what she loves about her son: Thankful for [redacted] today. My [redacted] was just the best baby....cuddly and easy...a hard toddler...always on the move and slow to talk which led to lots of crying....and one of the most helpful and sweet hearted little boys. He is quiet except when he’s not....overflowing with unique personality. He hates the car and is a complete homebody. He loves art and sports and is quick with a joke. He loves organizing and quality time and says one day he is gonna be a daddy to one hundred babies 😂 And when he hugs and kisses you, you believe it. ❤️❤️❤️. 
 
 She then took a turn. Bower wrote about how her son's photos never got "as many likes" as her other photos, and how she had struggled with that for years. She blamed the lower engagement on everything from Instagram's algorithm to him being lost as a middle child, to his "squinty eyes": Guys I am gonna be perfectly honest...Instagram never liked my Munchkin and it killed me inside. His photos never got as many likes. Never got comments. From a statistical point of view, he wasn’t as popular with everyone out there. Maybe part of that was the pictures just never hit the algorithm right. Part might be because he was “the baby” for a very short amount of time...And people like babies. I say 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. ☺️ She then asked her followers to give him likes for his birthday: so can we do this right? Because I truly KNOW that my Munch deserves alllllll the likes...whether or not a stranger gives it to them. And on his sixth birthday - I am thankful that I know that...that no matter what other people think of me or my kids or my marriage or my house or my life or my everything...that they are 1000000000x better in real life than any tiny little picture could hold. 
 
 Judgment on social media was swift. Full-time mommy bloggers scare me. These women use their kids' faces to promote content and products that they will make money off of. It is the 2018 version of turning your kids into child stars and profiting off of them, and who knows what kind of long-term impact it'll have?! 
 
 Many questioned her. If you are an IG mommy blogger who's afraid that how many likes on your child's pictures is going to one day hurt his self esteem, your parenting is horrid and feel bad for your kid. 
 
 And some questioned themselves. Damn. That mommy blogger might have cured me off insta forever .....by liking pple's kids selectively si am also part of the problem https://t.co/l9WTAgnavF 
 
 In a tearful Instagram story after publishing the post, Bower responded to some of the negative comments. Instagram: @https://www.instagram.com/stories/bowerpowerblog/ 
 
 Bower said she posted it to describe "personal growth for me" to realize it doesn't matter if her son's posts get less engagement. "I had to learn that the likes do not reflect much to me," she said. "That I had to choose that, because I work with brands that tell you the opposite. I read an article about how to grow your Instagram that tells you the opposite." Bower also said she gets that people don't understand this thinking because blogging is "a weird job," and denied accusations she needed her son to be "liked" on Instagram. "But kids are smart, y'all," she said. "Kids know there's likes on photos and it's very human nature to compare. So for me, my personal growth journey is teaching my kids it doesn't matter." Bower added she shared the post to help others understand that social media isn't everything. "That's the personal growth that I had to learn," she said. 
 
 Later on Monday, Bower archived the post and told her followers via story she got rid of it because the "drama was out of hand." She said she will read her son the birthday wishes. Instagram: @https://www.instagram.com/stories/bowerpowerblog/
– One of Katie Bower's five kids turned 6 on Saturday, and the mommy blogger is taking flak for bemoaning that he's never gotten as many "likes" as the rest of her kids. Bower, who runs the Bower Power blog, also has more than 53,000 followers on Instagram. Over the weekend, she wrote that she was so grateful for Weston, but "Instagram never liked my Munchkin and it killed me inside. His photos never got as many likes. ... From a statistical point of view, he wasn't as popular with everyone out there." She wondered if perhaps this was the case because "people like babies" and he was only the baby for a brief period before the next one came along. "I say 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." The post—which Bower deleted but is saved in screenshots—later clarified that she was simply saying all this because "one day he will see the numbers and have to learn that his value is not in online approval." That hasn't muted the criticism, however, and Mashable rounds up examples of critics who say that Bower is teaching her kids the wrong lessons about social media; model Chrissy Teigen got in on the action, wondering, "What in the hell??" In a followup Instagram post, Bower denied that she needed Weston to be "liked" and said her "personal growth journey is teaching my kids it doesn't matter," per BuzzFeed. Bower also faced backlash in September when she revealed that it took her a year to realize people were in the World Trade Center when the planes hit on 9/11. (Read our favorite Instagram story so far this year.)