5 ms·

Nope, nope nope. My kid is 10 and still doesn't know a single Youtuber by name and doesn't really watch Youtube. We did try Youtube Kids at one point, but it w

Nope, nope nope. My kid is 10 and still doesn't know a single Youtuber by name and doesn't really watch Youtube. We did try Youtube Kids at one point, but it was just 99% toy ads masquerading as authentic content. Netflix has a pretty good age limiter and well produced TV-shows. Disney+ has Bluey and a ton of other content. AppleTV+ has a few good ones too, but not as much as the two big ones. Paying the few coins for a streaming service w/ age limits is highly preferable to risking your kid ending up on some Elsagate[0] video because of the algorithm. Or ending up in a parasocial relationship to some screaming jumpcutting Youtuber who shills their merch on literal children. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsagate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elsagate

est 4y ago
but is there any better alternative?
- theshrike79 4y ago
  Actual produced content, made by professionals who don't get paid per view or swag sales. Netflix and Disney+ have good content, you pay for it and they give you content. There is no parasocial relationship or algorithmic suggestions that direct the user to a dark hole of exploitative content. Most countries have a PBS equivalent, a non-commercial public broadcast channel that produces quality content without.
  - gnz11 4y ago
    Let’s not kid ourselves, Netflix, Amazon, etc put out a ton of crap content too (e.g. Blippi). PBS Kids, KIKA, etc put out a lot of kids content on YouTube as well. Heck there’s a ton of great public media on YouTube in general. My subscription list is mostly public media from various countries and I don’t have the algorithm issues what most are describing here.
    - grugagag 4y ago
      My kid had a blippi phase but has moved on now. Blippi may monkey around but it’s educative after all. There are many other inane brain melting options to avoid
- password4321 4y ago
  Nothing is perfect. Amazon Kids+ is a huge step up from YouTube, with curation and categorized time limits. They sell Kindle Fire hardware with a year's subscription included. https://www.amazon.com/ftu/home https://www.amazon.com/ftu/home ABCmouse advertises a lot, which is inversely correlated with effectiveness in my experience. https://www.abcmouse.com https://www.abcmouse.com
gambiting 4y ago
>>My kid is 10 and still doesn't know a single Youtuber by name Authentic curiosity - does your child not go to a normal school? In my experience you can literally detach your home from the internet and live without electricity, but the second your kids go to school they instantly know all the latest fads and videos and what not. To make it to 10 without being at least somewhat familiar with youtube through that exposure seems....almost impossible?
- jahsome 4y ago
  [flagged]
  - einherjae 4y ago
    One can be right and pretentious at the same time.
    - sgdesign 4y ago
      HN's motto right there
  - blitzar 4y ago
    If they have school age children and their children are unaware of these things (or at least the parents believe that to be true) then either the parents are dumb or their children are incredible at deceiving their parents and possibly showing early signs of being psychopaths.
    - watwut 4y ago
      Or just the kids learned parents react negatively when saying certain words and do not say them. That is not a sign of being psychopath, that is sign of being neurotypical.
      - blitzar 4y ago
        That sounds more like a parent that is totally disconnected from the reality of their child than a particularly deceptive child.
candiddevmike 4y ago
No YouTube for my kids either. What's really freaky is that some kids in their grade (elementary school) have YouTube accounts and make videos supposedly! Also, Bluey is an incredible show. I'd probably watch it independently, the parents are hilarious.
thih9 4y ago
> We did try Youtube Kids at one point, but it was just 99% toy ads masquerading as authentic content. To be fair, this description fits a lot of regular (non-kids) platforms too.
- blitzar 4y ago
  Most "content" is made by "influencers" and thats kinda the point
- theshrike79 4y ago
  True, Transformers, He-Man and My Little Pony were just toy ads in cartoon form, but they were mostly honest about it. Youtube influencers form a "friendship" with the audience and are more sneaky/non-obvious about the stuff they're advertising, masking it as a "review" or something else. Just having a YT influencer play a game is a HUGE boost in sales.
  - watwut 4y ago
    My Little Pony has pretty serious storylines and developed characters. There is a reason why that particular show had rather full on fandom.
    - theshrike79 4y ago
      The new series yes. I'm old, so I'm speaking of the ye olde version that was ... not so good. =)
quickthrower2 4y ago
The irony of the “gate” postfix, being such an old concept!
GuB-42 4y ago
> We did try Youtube Kids at one point, but it was just 99% toy ads masquerading as authentic content. Essentially like kids TV in the 80-90s. A lot of shows were made explicitly to sell toys, with Transformers being one of the best known. I don't know if it is still the case now.
- oogali 4y ago
  Yes, but those 30 minute ads actually had content and you could enjoy them without the toy in hand. I briefly let my son watch YouTube Kids and soon his stream was endless unboxing videos or weird knockoff cartoons with no words. I’d gladly take 80-90s finite TV interspersed with PBS than infinite junk food.

est 4y ago

but is there any better alternative?

theshrike79 4y ago
Actual produced content, made by professionals who don't get paid per view or swag sales. Netflix and Disney+ have good content, you pay for it and they give you content. There is no parasocial relationship or algorithmic suggestions that direct the user to a dark hole of exploitative content. Most countries have a PBS equivalent, a non-commercial public broadcast channel that produces quality content without.
- gnz11 4y ago
  Let’s not kid ourselves, Netflix, Amazon, etc put out a ton of crap content too (e.g. Blippi). PBS Kids, KIKA, etc put out a lot of kids content on YouTube as well. Heck there’s a ton of great public media on YouTube in general. My subscription list is mostly public media from various countries and I don’t have the algorithm issues what most are describing here.
  - grugagag 4y ago
    My kid had a blippi phase but has moved on now. Blippi may monkey around but it’s educative after all. There are many other inane brain melting options to avoid
password4321 4y ago
Nothing is perfect. Amazon Kids+ is a huge step up from YouTube, with curation and categorized time limits. They sell Kindle Fire hardware with a year's subscription included. https://www.amazon.com/ftu/home https://www.amazon.com/ftu/home ABCmouse advertises a lot, which is inversely correlated with effectiveness in my experience. https://www.abcmouse.com https://www.abcmouse.com

gambiting 4y ago

>>My kid is 10 and still doesn't know a single Youtuber by name Authentic curiosity - does your child not go to a normal school? In my experience you can literally detach your home from the internet and live without electricity, but the second your kids go to school they instantly know all the latest fads and videos and what not. To make it to 10 without being at least somewhat familiar with youtube through that exposure seems....almost impossible?

jahsome 4y ago
[flagged]
- einherjae 4y ago
  One can be right and pretentious at the same time.
  - sgdesign 4y ago
    HN's motto right there
- blitzar 4y ago
  If they have school age children and their children are unaware of these things (or at least the parents believe that to be true) then either the parents are dumb or their children are incredible at deceiving their parents and possibly showing early signs of being psychopaths.
  - watwut 4y ago
    Or just the kids learned parents react negatively when saying certain words and do not say them. That is not a sign of being psychopath, that is sign of being neurotypical.
    - blitzar 4y ago
      That sounds more like a parent that is totally disconnected from the reality of their child than a particularly deceptive child.

candiddevmike 4y ago

No YouTube for my kids either. What's really freaky is that some kids in their grade (elementary school) have YouTube accounts and make videos supposedly! Also, Bluey is an incredible show. I'd probably watch it independently, the parents are hilarious.

thih9 4y ago

> We did try Youtube Kids at one point, but it was just 99% toy ads masquerading as authentic content. To be fair, this description fits a lot of regular (non-kids) platforms too.

blitzar 4y ago
Most "content" is made by "influencers" and thats kinda the point
theshrike79 4y ago
True, Transformers, He-Man and My Little Pony were just toy ads in cartoon form, but they were mostly honest about it. Youtube influencers form a "friendship" with the audience and are more sneaky/non-obvious about the stuff they're advertising, masking it as a "review" or something else. Just having a YT influencer play a game is a HUGE boost in sales.
- watwut 4y ago
  My Little Pony has pretty serious storylines and developed characters. There is a reason why that particular show had rather full on fandom.
  - theshrike79 4y ago
    The new series yes. I'm old, so I'm speaking of the ye olde version that was ... not so good. =)

quickthrower2 4y ago

The irony of the “gate” postfix, being such an old concept!

GuB-42 4y ago

> We did try Youtube Kids at one point, but it was just 99% toy ads masquerading as authentic content. Essentially like kids TV in the 80-90s. A lot of shows were made explicitly to sell toys, with Transformers being one of the best known. I don't know if it is still the case now.

oogali 4y ago
Yes, but those 30 minute ads actually had content and you could enjoy them without the toy in hand. I briefly let my son watch YouTube Kids and soon his stream was endless unboxing videos or weird knockoff cartoons with no words. I’d gladly take 80-90s finite TV interspersed with PBS than infinite junk food.