Page 32 - FWG Issue 1 February 2023

Today's Child

YOUTUBE TEEN SAFETY

B Y NICOLEEN D A VIES, LIFE T ALK F ORUM
an you believe it – YouTube is 17 years old! And did you is entertaining and, given that the COVID-19 pandemic isolated
know that YouTube remains the unrivalled dominant most people for long periods, YouTube became a form of escape
social media site for teens? A study published in October and connection.
C2022 revealed that 95% of teenagers claimed to use
YouTube, followed by TikTok at 67%. Teenagers also love the creativity of platforms such as YouTube
and TikTok; they can watch and make creative content, which they
The YouTube algorithm is a recommendation system that can share, and we all know how “likes” influence their thinking and
determines which videos to suggest to the user, catering to his actions.
or her interests. It uses data generated by user behaviour on the
platform to match the right viewer with the right videos that they What are the risks?
are most likely to enjoy and spend time watching. For this reason, First and foremost, the risk is that of exposure to inappropriate
teens use YouTube and TikTok as search engines to explore their content, as confirmed by an investigation conducted by Mozilla into
interests, find information and pass the time. YouTube’s recommendation system. The most frequent categories
of inappropriate content on the site were misinformation, graphic/
However, the danger with any online site is the risk of users being violent content, hate speech and spams or scams.
exposed to misinformation, violent and graphic content, and of
course, hate speech. A study found that more than 25% of the most viewed videos
about COVID-19 contained misinformation while reaching millions
Why so popular? of viewers across the world. Researchers found the site’s algorithm
The popularity of YouTube can be attributed to children’s love of to be the problem as “71% percent of the inappropriate content
videos and the notion that it is easier to watch something than reported came from videos recommended by YouTube’s automatic
read something. Visual media is also better able to convey context, recommendation system”.
content and emotion.
They also found that many of the videos fell into what YouTube
YouTube content is audience-conscious, with the creator’s intention calls “borderline content” – videos that “skirt the borders of their
of connecting and engaging being visible. YouTube is also easily Community Guidelines without actually violating them”. For
searchable, and it presents novelty and endless content to the user. example, the report pointed to the animated video Woody’s Got
Wood, which was actually “a sexualised parody of the children’s
For the user, viewing is a physically rewarding experience because film, Toy Story”.
the surprise element triggers the reward centre in the brain. Images
and videos are also more believable than words alone. The social An interesting point raised was that because YouTube’s algorithm
component is reflected in teens being able to connect with like- recommends content based on what it determines users are
minded people watching the same videos. How so? The platform interested in, it often suggests videos that reinforce existing

Fourways Gardens • 30 • February 2023