The expansion of social media platforms and the consolidation of the attention economy in Iran have generated new forms of labor in which children increasingly function as producers of attention and economic value. This transformation has blurred the conventional boundaries between childhood, play, and work, raising critical questions regarding children’s rights, agency, and the psychosocial consequences of digital visibility. This study examines the lived experiences of children active on social media and reconceptualizes digital child labor within the Iranian context of the attention economy.

Adopting a qualitative research design, the study employs digital ethnography and semi-structured interviews. Data were collected through systematic observation of social media accounts and 81 interviews with child content creators, parents, teachers, and experts. The study’s theoretical framework is an integrated one, with "attention economy" serving as the central framework, complemented by the theoretical approaches of representation, actor-network theory, and the ecological model.

The findings demonstrate that within the logic of the attention economy, children’s bodies, emotions, and everyday lives are increasingly commodified and transformed into sources of attention and economic value. Consequently, forms of child labor emerge that remain largely concealed within the language of play, creativity, and family participation. The study argues that digital child labor is a structurally produced and networked phenomenon rather than an individual or purely familial choice.

The article highlights the need for specific legal frameworks, stronger platform accountability, and enhanced parental media literacy to prevent the normalization of emotional and economic exploitation of children in the digital attention economy.