A video of a woman using a young child as her personal photographer has been slammed for its apparent portrayal of peak narcissism in the social media era.

The video, filmed in Paddington, Sydney, shows an unidentified woman posing for photos in front of a colourful wall while a child – no older than three – stands in his pram to take photos of her with a phone.

Laughter can also be heard in the video, along with a woman’s voice observing, “that’s the saddest thing I’ve ever seen”.

The video was shared to the Facebook page of humour site Brown Cardigan with the caption: “Narcissism within experiential mummy blogging is at an all time high.”

Mummy bloggers are women who document their parenting tips, techniques and struggles online and on social media.

It attracted tens of thousands of views within hours, with some celebrating the woman’s opportunism as others denigrated her for taking advantage of a young child for self-promotion.

“I’d like you to meet my son, Selfie Stick,” one viewer joked.

“This is a little bit sick,” another said.

Others said the woman was merely being resourceful, with some joking that having a personal photographer was “the only reason” they would have children.

With the rise in social media platforms like Instagram and the popularity of bloggers, documenting one’s life through photographs has become commonplace.

However, it is usually the husbands and friends of Insta-celebrities and mummy bloggers who are tasked with capturing the photos, not their children.

Children using or contributing to social media posts is particularly concerning, given a recent study found the majority of respondents (aged 14 to 24) had exacerbated mental health issues as a result of social media platforms.

According to The Royal Society for Public Health study, the worst platform was Instagram, with half of those surveyed saying it increased feelings of anxiety and seven out of 10 saying it made them feel worse about body image.

Earlier this year, a US couple lost custody of two of their children after subjecting them to allegedly abusive pranks for their Youtube channel.

Mike and Heather Martin, also known on YouTube as “DaddyOFive”, were reported by viewers for featuring their five children in the videos, which often involved humiliating stunts.

The Maryland couple removed the videos and issued a public apology.

“We’re the parents and we should have made better decisions,” they said.