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Comment by vanderZwan | Hacker News Reader

> YouTube is just a service that is out to make money out of bored and media-addicted people. It isn’t a public service that is being exploited.

You're not a parent, are you?

EDIT: neither am I, for the record. But I think a lot of the replies here are a bit too quick to lay the blame on the less tech-savvy parents, who may just be using YouTube in the good faith that an app designed for children will not auto-queue disturbing content (also, the linked article makes a larger point about the "infrastructural violence" of the internet that we should not dismiss to quickly).

https://medium.com/@jamesbridle/something-is-wrong-on-the-in...

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From one parent to another: Parents need to stop asking the world to accommodate for them!

If you don't think your kids should use YouTube then don't let them...easy as that! It's like with cookies...if you really want to I'll bet you find a way to stop you kids from eating them.

Except that “online video” is now a synonym for YouTube. Most people are not aware of this and think “just don’t use YouTube” is as extreme as “then stop watching TV”.

No, it's more akin to "don't watch these channels on TV". There is plenty of content served on sites/apps where preventing children from seeing inappropriate things is a primary focus. It's like locking down your TV to only show cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Besides, putting your child's productive energy into more productive activities that are not watching either TV or online videos will serve them better.

> No, it's more akin to "don't watch these channels on TV".

Sort of. If I let my kid watch Peppa Pig on the TV, I can be reasonably assured that it won't suddenly take a turn (while I'm in the next room washing dishes) into Peppa Pig having sex with Barney just before they're both ground up into sausage.

The same isn't true on YouTube.

That gives me an idea, actually. Do you have an RSS reader of choice?

Thanks for the parenting advice, 21savageaf. I think you underestimate how big YouTube is for the average person. It is pre-installed on most android devices (2B+). Outside of the US and a few european countries, there is no HBO Go/Amazon Prime/Hulu.

O no, do you mean that there is YouTube pre-installed on my child's stuffed animals and the books I read to her? What can I do against this? Or did you mean some other object that is suitable for children?

I really doubt that. How many Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO Go, etc. subscribers are there?

I think this ignores whether or not YouTube has a moral obligation to create better experiences for children.

You can have millions of parents address the issues themselves or you could have one company with massive resources fix the program for millions of parents.

Aside from morality, I think it's a clear product / business issue for them.

I see no obligation for YouTube except with their “Kids” app. That one really does need to be appropriate, and from what I’ve heard they are failing at it. But as long as they fix it (or even discontinue it) I see no reason why they need to accommodate children on their adult-oriented site and app.

The issue with the "Kids" app is they changed it's content filtering -- what used to be a human-moderated whitelist of content is now determined algorithmically. And that algorithm has been unable to filter "satirical" content that features characters from children's shows from actual children's shows.

Agreed. Don't just dump a tablet into your kids hands and get upset when they find their way to dangerous content.

I can totally empathise how easy it is. I can give my one year old the wiggles and he's calm and quiet for hours if I want. Holy crap it's quiet. I can clean. I can rest. I can do my taxes. But it's just not a panacea. And as he gets older he will naturally try to control the content flow himself. That's fine. But I need to parent this to protect him from what he can't yet regulate himself.

I’m a parent. My kids only watch YouTube videos with me. Problem solved!

I am a parent and I do not see the relevance of YouTube to raising children nor any other tech. What I said is that YouTube is not a public service, you just upgraded them from 'public service' to 'an parental service' and yet you slam me instead of parents relying on entertainment companies to raise their children.

I am trying to raise an interested and independent child with her own interests who goes through this world awake, not a member of the phone-zombies you see everywhere who have a never ending hunger for flashy videos and other entertainment. That there are parents who put their babies/toddlers in a stroller with a phone in their hands is just mind boggling to me.

My daughter is almost a year old and the only time she has ever looked at a screen (including TV) for longer than 10 seconds is when we video call her grandma who lives in another country.

Yet somehow, despite all your valid criticisms of the media and technology in general, you argue that neither YouTube nor the people who upload these kinds of videos may be held accountable for their exploitative behaviour.

Impressive bit of cognitive dissonance there. Although I suppose it can be explained with

> I couldn’t care less.

Which is fine, but then there is no logical reason for anyone else to care about your point of view either.

I didn’t say nobody should be held accountable. My main criticism was with the article’s tone of ‘the world is coming to an end’, or as if people were spraying graffiti all over Van Gogh’s paintings. While in the end it is just YouTube that has some more crappy videos. Don’t get me wrong, there are many many useful videos on YouTube as well.

The accountability for YouTube would come in the form of less users or less advertisers. Until this happens though, these ‘crappy’ videos are appertently just what the users want to see and the automated advertising bots don’t care.

Accountability for the video-makers? I don’t see why. The copyright system is broken and counter productive in many cases to our ability as humans to create more knowledge. One could always argue that it is an art project anyway.

If you are affected by this as aparent, you are the problem. Youtube is unregulated, and full of much worze than this. Take some personal responsibility. Very suprised to see this old opinion parroted here.

I am considering blocking YouTube. It’s like the mindless TV of the 1980s, but with a much shorter dopamine cycle. I wish my kids never saw it in the first place.

Too bad it isn't as if your children only get to see what you show them...

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