4 ms·

what's presented to me as "popular" is only "popular" for a small set of people. ... or maybe "popular for a set of small people" :) Many folk trashed shows l

by kitd 8y ago

what's presented to me as "popular" is only "popular" for a small set of people. ... or maybe "popular for a set of small people" :) Many folk trashed shows like Teletubbies or In The Night Garden for being banal, and thus 'damaging' young minds. But those shows were informed by child psychologists who, unlike the detractors, understand that child brains work differently to adult ones. I suspect ChuChu hits the same buttons.

CalRobert 8y ago
I felt a little bad after my initial post because it's not as though everything I watch is particularly highbrow. If nothing else, though, YT could do wonders for quality by hellbanning the videos where the titles are all caps. ChuChu actually seems fine, for what it's worth. Even so, in the article the author describes how they couldn't get the phone out of a 2 year old's hands, which is 1) horrifying (regular screens that close to the face at that age may be problematic for depth perception development among numerous other issues) and 2) true of literally anything you put on the phone before giving it to a two year old.
- solarkraft 8y ago
  > If nothing else, though, YT could do wonders for quality by hellbanning the videos where the titles are all caps I often find myself wishing for a browser plugin that hides clickbait. It seems like a fairly easy thing to do, maybe with some pretty basic machine learning - or even without it, just looking for too much capitalisation or phrases like "what happens next".
screye 8y ago
That being said, there are some pretty creepy or generally dislikeable people whose YouTube channels are very popular among children. There are YouTubers whose whole bit is insulting people, having a short temper, inconviniencing people and playing it all off as jokes. However, I have seen my younger cousins directly adopt behaviors from these YouTubers and try to solve their problems by shouting, insulting and throwing a tantrum. Ofc, throwing tantrums is something all kids do, but the manner in which they do it closely resembles these channels. Then there are straight up creepy and unnerving channels with millions of views and that show at the top of queries searched by children. I feel YouTube should provide parents with a more granular control over the filtering process. Preteens can be very impressionable.
- kitd 8y ago
  I definitely agree that parents need to curate what their kids watch on YT. I seem to spend half my life looking over my son's shoulder. Fortunately ATM it seems to be restricted to gamers gaming.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- CalRobert 8y ago
  They destroy lives with their pranks (even if you don't click - never, ever, ever blow an air horn near someone's head) https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/17/a-youtube-inspired-prank-ruined-my-daughters-life https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/17/a-yout...
  - KozmoNau7 8y ago
    If someone did that to me, my reaction would probably end rather badly. I value my hearing very much. The sheer idiocy of not even giving the slightest thought to the consequences is extremely disturbing. It's terrifyingly easy to permanently wreck someone's eyesight or hearing with a high power laser pointer or an airhorn. "It's just a prank, bro!"
- solarkraft 8y ago
  In the best case their likelihood to throw tantrums isn't influenced by these people, but just the manner. And in a good case (not sure how likely) they will grow out of it.
- cafard 8y ago
  "There are YouTubers whose whole bit is insulting people, having a short temper, inconviniencing people and playing it all off as jokes. However, I have seen my younger cousins directly adopt behaviors from these YouTubers and try to solve their problems by shouting, insulting and throwing a tantrum. Ofc, throwing tantrums is something all kids do, but the manner in which they do it closely resembles these channels." Back in the vacuum-tube days, I was watching a Three Stooges short. One hit another in the face with a pie. This inspired me to throw a pillow in my father's face. I don't think he'd have thought this good in any case, but he was smoking a cigarette. This led to an indefinite ban on The Three Stooges in our household. Of course, in the days when the average household had at most one TV, and that TV had at most three channels, parents had very granular control over the filtering process.

by kitd 8y ago

CalRobert 8y ago

I felt a little bad after my initial post because it's not as though everything I watch is particularly highbrow. If nothing else, though, YT could do wonders for quality by hellbanning the videos where the titles are all caps. ChuChu actually seems fine, for what it's worth. Even so, in the article the author describes how they couldn't get the phone out of a 2 year old's hands, which is 1) horrifying (regular screens that close to the face at that age may be problematic for depth perception development among numerous other issues) and 2) true of literally anything you put on the phone before giving it to a two year old.

solarkraft 8y ago
> If nothing else, though, YT could do wonders for quality by hellbanning the videos where the titles are all caps I often find myself wishing for a browser plugin that hides clickbait. It seems like a fairly easy thing to do, maybe with some pretty basic machine learning - or even without it, just looking for too much capitalisation or phrases like "what happens next".

screye 8y ago

That being said, there are some pretty creepy or generally dislikeable people whose YouTube channels are very popular among children. There are YouTubers whose whole bit is insulting people, having a short temper, inconviniencing people and playing it all off as jokes. However, I have seen my younger cousins directly adopt behaviors from these YouTubers and try to solve their problems by shouting, insulting and throwing a tantrum. Ofc, throwing tantrums is something all kids do, but the manner in which they do it closely resembles these channels. Then there are straight up creepy and unnerving channels with millions of views and that show at the top of queries searched by children. I feel YouTube should provide parents with a more granular control over the filtering process. Preteens can be very impressionable.

kitd 8y ago
I definitely agree that parents need to curate what their kids watch on YT. I seem to spend half my life looking over my son's shoulder. Fortunately ATM it seems to be restricted to gamers gaming.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
CalRobert 8y ago
They destroy lives with their pranks (even if you don't click - never, ever, ever blow an air horn near someone's head) https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/17/a-youtube-inspired-prank-ruined-my-daughters-life https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/17/a-yout...
- KozmoNau7 8y ago
  If someone did that to me, my reaction would probably end rather badly. I value my hearing very much. The sheer idiocy of not even giving the slightest thought to the consequences is extremely disturbing. It's terrifyingly easy to permanently wreck someone's eyesight or hearing with a high power laser pointer or an airhorn. "It's just a prank, bro!"
solarkraft 8y ago
In the best case their likelihood to throw tantrums isn't influenced by these people, but just the manner. And in a good case (not sure how likely) they will grow out of it.
cafard 8y ago
"There are YouTubers whose whole bit is insulting people, having a short temper, inconviniencing people and playing it all off as jokes. However, I have seen my younger cousins directly adopt behaviors from these YouTubers and try to solve their problems by shouting, insulting and throwing a tantrum. Ofc, throwing tantrums is something all kids do, but the manner in which they do it closely resembles these channels." Back in the vacuum-tube days, I was watching a Three Stooges short. One hit another in the face with a pie. This inspired me to throw a pillow in my father's face. I don't think he'd have thought this good in any case, but he was smoking a cigarette. This led to an indefinite ban on The Three Stooges in our household. Of course, in the days when the average household had at most one TV, and that TV had at most three channels, parents had very granular control over the filtering process.