The Views: The CAN Family Can!
The Can Family - Youtube
Family vlogging channels are a YouTube staple. Because the genre is so beloved, a hook is needed to stand out in a crowd. Boxer Niko Valdes and his wife Cristal decided to document the ups and downs of their family life on YouTube. Armed with a “Can do” attitude and some camera equipment, the family of four have amassed a following of almost 5 million subscribers. But what sets The Can Family apart from other family vloggers?
Handle: @TheCANFamily on YouTube. All four members of the family have Instagram accounts; @cristalallure (Critsal), @nikovaldes (Niko), @abellavaldes (Abella), and @neovaldes (Neo).
Series: While there are no definitive series for “The Can Family” channel, most video titles feature first person pronouns like “We” or “Our”. For example, “We Found Our Dream Home!!!” and “Our First Family Road Trip!!!”.
Creators: “The CAN Family” is made of parents Cristal Valdes and Niko Valdes and features their two children Abella Lili and Neo Jules Valdes.
Platform: The Cans as a unit post long form and short form content on YouTube. However, Instagram accounts for each individual member posts content that focus on the individual. For example, Cristal’s Instagram page not only shows photos and Reels featuring her family, but her own interests like beauty, exercise, and childcare products.
Genre(s): “The Can Family” creates family vlogs for YouTube.
Subscribers: As of writing, “The CAN Family” currently sits at 4.85 million subscribers on YouTube. The personal Instagram accounts vary in following. Niko’s account has 727K followers, Cristal has 421K followers, Abella has 73.7K followers, and Neo has 76K followers.
The first video visitors to “The CAN Family” YouTube channel spot is called “NEO’S FIRST TIME HEARING!!! Cochlear Implant Activation Day!!!”. The title is self-explanatory, as are most for the channel. However, since this video acts as the poster for the entire channel, viewers automatically understand the hook of “The CAN Family”.
Niko and Cristal Valdes had their children Abella Lili Valdes and Neo Jules Valdes in October 2018 and February 2021 respectively. These children are not only their pride and joy, they are also the centerpiece of the family YouTube channel. After Neo was born, Niko and Cristal were quickly informed that he was deaf. They released a video shortly after titled “Our Baby Boy Is Deaf”. Niko and Cristal make it abundantly clear that they do not view Neo’s disability as something wrong with him. Rather, the parents spend the runtime of the fifteen-minute video describing doctor’s visits and asking their viewers the best way to connect and support their deaf newborn.
This is what makes the cochlear implant video such an interesting representation of the child. Niko and Cristal do not exploit their son’s deafness or his cochlear implant for content. Though it is documented for their viewers, Niko and Cristal have decided to film this aspect of their lives in hopes of learning from these experiences, teaching other families in similar situations, and gain understanding and support from their audience.
Though family vlogging channels are controversial for many reasons, they typically draw ire from critics who consider the content as unpaid child labor and exploitation. Though Neo’s deafness is the subject of multiple videos for The CAN Family channel, it is not milked and exploited to the extent of other family vlogging channels that garner criticism.
However, The CAN Family are guilty of using many clickbait tactics, just like many popular YouTube channels. Thumbnails and captions of videos are purposely deceiving or over exaggerated in hopes of gaining attention from YouTube viewers outside of The Can Family’s subscriber base. YouTube’s algorithm is notoriously finicky, pushing certain topics out one week before going in the opposite direction the next. Clickbait titles and thumbnails rise above this. If a video garners many clicks, the YouTube algorithm tends to push the video regardless of the subject.
For example, the video “SOMEONE BROKE INTO OUR HOUSE WHILE WE WERE HOME!!!” features an incredibly distressing thumbnail. Cristal is shown desperately holding her two children and crying, with images of a man in robber garb and police cars with sirens are imposed underneath her. This thumbnail suggests to viewers that we will see the break in take place and even footage of Cristal and the children being distressed.
Instead, the video simply consists of Niko and Cristal talking to the camera and explaining the break in to their audience. While Cristal does tear up during the video and some black and white security footage is shown, the thumbnail implies something much more dangerous and horrifying. Yes, clickbait is simply part of YouTube’s art form, but involving children with dangerous imagery certainly raises questions for many who are critical of family vlogging channels.
Though “The CAN Family” channel often features clickbait, its main focus is on light hearted content such as depictions of the children’s first day of school, pranks, and food challenges. Niko and Cristal clearly want their channel to be an inviting space as shown in the name of their merch line; “Chamily”. “Chamily” is a combination of the words “channel” and “family”, implying that subscribers to “The CAN Family” channel are now honorary Valdeses. Forming a sense of community is clearly important not only to the channel, but its brand.
The reason behind the naming of their YouTube channel and series is probably hidden deep within the hours of content within the YouTube channel. However, the most obvious concept behind the name is the “CAN” in the title. The Valdes can do anything. They can overcome a home invasion. They can face the challenges inherent to a disability. They can be silly. They can be themselves. They can do anything.
“The CAN Family” show off their journey to show the things they can do. In the process, by becoming a member of their “Chamily”, you gain the power to do anything as well. You can do anything. You can.
