YouTube:

YouTube content creators must identify videos specifically made for children

Posted on November 22, 2019

Those creating content for video sharing platform YouTube that is designed specifically for youngsters must now highlight that their content is designed for this audience.

This change has come into effect after YouTube was fined $170m (approximately £131m) by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) in the USA for child safety violations in terms of collecting data from children and targeting ads at them earlier this year. This is the largest fine recorded for failing to comply with the COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), but represents just 1% of YouTube’s annual income.

YouTube first announced these changes in a blog post in September, stating that it wanted to become more responsible when it comes to children and privacy in the wake of this dispute, and that it would begin to enforce its updated policies within four months. This means that no data will be collected from videos targeting children. This will include content about toys and games, children’s characters and themes.

An email was sent to creators towards the end of last week stating that YouTubers are now required to tell the platform whether or not the content they create is made for children, in order for them to comply with the COPPA.

Creators are able to change their audience settings from the YouTube Studio, which will see them state how much of the content they make is designed for children, whether that is a specific video, or the whole channel. They will be able to choose from three settings – ‘No kids content’, ‘a mixture of content’ or ‘a lot of content’ that is directed at children. Regardless of whether the user is a child or not, YouTube will treat anyone watching these videos as though they were a child, limiting data collection.

Users will no longer be able to comment on these videos, nor will they receive notifications from content aimed at children. YouTube will also halt targeted ads on this type of content.

YouTube has stated that it intends to use machine learning systems to help it find content that is made specifically for children. It has also said that it will remove any misleading videos from the platform that trick families and children into watching adult content.

The audience settings have been introduced as part of YouTube’s settlement with the FTC as part of its non-compliance, but the change will also apply to every creator registered to the platform. YouTube acknowledged that it wouldn’t be easy for some creators to adjust and that it may take some getting used to.

Posted by Alan Littler

How YouTube can get your kids to eat their dinner

Posted on October 15, 2019

A lot of parents complain that their children are ‘fussy eaters’, and it’s a problem I can relate to. However, there are steps parents can take to make mealtimes more appealing and turn a particular food item into something more than an unwelcome addition to their plate.

A programme shown regularly on the Tiny Pop TV channel called (more…)

Posted by John Murray

YouTube can’t tell one burning landmark from another

Posted on April 17, 2019

Footage of the Notre Dame fire uploaded to YouTube has been bringing up information about the 9/11 attacks in an incident that reminds us that video and image recognition technology is still in its embryonic stage.

As flames engulfed the Parisian cathedral on Monday evening, many people headed to social media to keep up to date with (more…)

Posted by John Murray

Survey asks how social media makes users feel

Posted on January 24, 2019

An Apposphere study, which was carried out by Murphy Research and commissioned by picture messaging platform Snapchat, has revealed the key emotions, traits and attributes social media users associate with each of the major platforms.

The poll was conducted last summer and asked just over 1,000 British social media users aged between 13 and 44 how each platform makes them feel. To take part in the survey, users had to be considered ‘frequent users’, meaning that they used a certain app at least once a week. They were asked to give opinions on five major platforms – Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

A massive 95% of Snapchat users stated that the app made them feel happy. This reflects a number of independent studies that suggested social media has a positive effect on users’ moods. As well as making users feel happy, it also makes users feel silly, creative, adventurous, excited, playful, attractive, flirtatious, spontaneous and playful.

Photo sharing platform Instagram also received a lot of praise and positivity, with the app making users feel entertained, smart, inspired, attractive, flirtatious, creative, playful, adventurous and self-conscious.

The world’s largest video site, YouTube, conjured up feelings of being captivated, entertained, inspired, informed, creative, happy, curious, smart and excited.

However, some of the attributes put forward by survey participants reflect the concerns raised by various parties in recent times relating to the negative effects these sites can have on individuals, with attributes such as ‘guilty’, ‘isolated’ and ‘lonely’ being associated with both Facebook and Twitter. Many experts believe that social media can be addictive and prompt low self-esteem and isolation, especially in younger users.

As well as these feelings, Facebook was also attributed with the following mixed bag of emotions and feelings: overwhelmed, self-conscious, connected, entertained, curious and informed. Meanwhile, Twitter evoked the following sensations: anxious, depressed, self-conscious, overwhelmed, informed and flirtatious.

It would seem that two of the most successful and long-standing social media sites are evoking the most negativity in comparison to their younger counterparts.

As well as highlighting emotions, the survey also looked at how participants use the different social sites. It showed that Snapchat is an app where users can talk to their friends while sharing photos and videos about their day and play with various filters and lenses.

This compares with the likes of Twitter where users said they can follow discussions, news and current affairs, as well as sharing opinions on topics of interest. This can be considered the other end of the spectrum as the site is not really about interacting with friends, which can lead to feelings of isolation and depression, especially when negativity in the news and online feeds through into it.

Different social media sites are used for different purposes and as this survey shows, they can lead to users having different feelings about them. Therefore, can ‘social media’ in general really be deemed as addictive and negative, when users think this only applies to one or two platforms?

Posted by Alan Littler

YouTube reveals top trending videos of 2018

Posted on December 11, 2018

As we’ve just seen with Twitter, this is the time of year when major social media platforms start telling us what we’ve been following and interacting with over the last 12 months. Now, it’s the turn of YouTube, which has revealed its trending top 10 of 2018.

Unlike Twitter, where the big hitters tend to be on the (more…)

Posted by John Murray