
“Algorithms are not a substitute for human intervention. Even YouTube Kids, which was designed as a digital haven for children, wasn't spared with cleverly disguised videos slipping past filters. In the past, BuzzFeed News provided YouTube with examples of videos depicting children in compromising, disturbing and even abusive situations.

There have also been disturbing reports of videos featuring cartoon characters popular among kids (like Paw Patrol & Cocomelon) indulging in violent and often inappropriate acts. Another popular vlogger, PewDiePie was accused of promoting anti-semeticism on his channel. Logan Paul, a 22-year-old YouTube star with 15 million-plus subscribers, was heavily criticised for posting a video featuring a young man who appeared to have recently hanged himself. While YouTube addiction remains a grave concern among parents, there are other risks on the platform that have been highlighted over the last 2 years. And while majorities of parents whose child uses YouTube credit the platform for entertaining and educating their children, a majority of these parents are concerned about their child being exposed to inappropriate content on the video sharing site." Fully 89% of parents of a child age 5 to 11 say their child watches videos on YouTube, as do 81% of those who have a child age 3 to 4 and 57% of those who have child age 2 or younger. YouTube Can Be Inappropriate For KidsĪccording to studies conducted at Pew Research Center, "YouTube has emerged as a key platform for both younger and older kids. And according to Jeff Nalin, a psychologist and co-founder of the Paradigm treatment center for teens, compulsive internet use and depression go hand-in-hand for more and more of today’s kids & teens.
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The percentage of young kids who watch online videos every day has increased from 24% to more than a third (34%).The amount of time young kids spend watching online videos per day has doubled.So how can parents protect teens and kids from screen bingeing dangerous misinformation on social media & video apps?Īccording to the recent Common Sense census that compared findings from an earlier study conducted in 2017: Many video platforms including the most popular TikTok continues to promote viral videos to increase engagament among teens. This is a welcome move but often these measures are hardly effective in stemming the addictive influence of YouTube's popular videos. YouTube announced in August that it would turn off the “Autoplay” function for viewers under 17 after criticism that users were sometimes being pushed toward conspiracy theory videos. Misinformation can have a negative effect on people, especially children.

Kids frequently get exposed to false information on youtube and social media. While YouTube users across the board report compulsive bingeing, there is an alarming rise in such excessive behaviour observed among kids & teens. So while you initially intended to watch just a cute “cat video”, you might just end up bingeing on similarly “addictive” content served to you by “YouTube’s recommendation engine” for the next couple of hours. Youtube is great yet excessive use creates a giant distraction for teens. YouTube’s in-built search and AI-based algorithms work with amazing accuracy to showcase “recommended videos” that one just can’t ignore. More than five billion videos get viewed on YouTube everyday and over 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute! And more than 70% of the views come from mobile devices alone, which are always at hand and can be carried anywhere (to bed, to the toilet, or even while driving). There’s no other type of content that commands such levels of attention, virality, engagement and excitement, especially among kids. Across the world, people clock in upwards of 1 billion hours of videos watched on YouTube everyday beating Netflix and Facebook views combined! Additionally you can navigate YouTube in over 80 different languages, covering nearly 95% of the Internet population. Beyond doubt, YouTube is THE most addictive site/app online.
