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My kid is allowed to watch 2 hours of youtube a week, but it's always supervised by me or my partner. He chooses what he wants to watch and gravitates towards s

My kid is allowed to watch 2 hours of youtube a week, but it's always supervised by me or my partner. He chooses what he wants to watch and gravitates towards science experiments, cartoons and some shows for kids. He stumbled a few times into dead ends such as mindless content (other kids or adults influencers playing Minecraft for example) but we guided him out of it. He now knows how to stay away from all that. As parents we do a lot more to keep him engaged with reading, outdoor play and other activities. Technology is an inescapable part of the future but we try to mitigate its bad effects and let him take the good parts. Seems to be working wonderfully. The goal is for him to realize what is good and what's bad without parental policing. Apart from Youtube there's Duolingo music and math that he does a few days a week. It's wonderful to see him resist the pull, turn off the device and go to some other activity by himself.

rightbyte 2y ago
Maybe Libretube etc. might be good to use with children? One of the main problems with Youtube is the algorithmic feed of recommendation. For kids it seem to converge in 'lets play', unboxing of toys and AI spam.
- api 2y ago
  The problem is absolutely the YT algorithm. You can start them on decent stuff but if they follow the gradient they will end up in a gutter of absolute trash. I feel like this experiment in rapid feedback optimization for engagement has yielded a truth about the human condition that ought to become one of those "laws": trash maximizes engagement. It sounds pessimistic and awful but I think it's one of those things that makes sense in retrospect. Consider the following: Let's say two people walk past you on the street. One of them says 'hi' and you have a brief light chat with them. The other smears themselves with peanut butter and starts clucking like a chicken and saluting Hitler. Which maximizes engagement? This implies that any system that optimized for maximum engagement will converge on some kind of trash. This is interesting: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1bn8gfq/researchers_uncover_pornification_trend_among/ https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1bn8gfq/researcher...
  - rightbyte 2y ago
    > It sounds pessimistic and awful It isn't really. I don't know you but what e.g. movie or music taste we have in common is probably quite blend and boring. The art is in the niche. And for some reason the algorithm thinks we love what we have in common with others. Click one 'blend' video and its genre takes over your feed.

rightbyte 2y ago

Maybe Libretube etc. might be good to use with children? One of the main problems with Youtube is the algorithmic feed of recommendation. For kids it seem to converge in 'lets play', unboxing of toys and AI spam.

api 2y ago
The problem is absolutely the YT algorithm. You can start them on decent stuff but if they follow the gradient they will end up in a gutter of absolute trash. I feel like this experiment in rapid feedback optimization for engagement has yielded a truth about the human condition that ought to become one of those "laws": trash maximizes engagement. It sounds pessimistic and awful but I think it's one of those things that makes sense in retrospect. Consider the following: Let's say two people walk past you on the street. One of them says 'hi' and you have a brief light chat with them. The other smears themselves with peanut butter and starts clucking like a chicken and saluting Hitler. Which maximizes engagement? This implies that any system that optimized for maximum engagement will converge on some kind of trash. This is interesting: https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1bn8gfq/researchers_uncover_pornification_trend_among/ https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1bn8gfq/researcher...
- rightbyte 2y ago
  > It sounds pessimistic and awful It isn't really. I don't know you but what e.g. movie or music taste we have in common is probably quite blend and boring. The art is in the niche. And for some reason the algorithm thinks we love what we have in common with others. Click one 'blend' video and its genre takes over your feed.