One of the biggest challenges that social media apps provide in today’s time is linked to a lack of safeguards in place for young online users.
The younger population continually suffers from being overexposed to mature content while others are reeling from the effects related to excess use of social media. But thankfully, one of the world’s most popular video-sharing apps, YouTube is working hard to combat the problem.
The platform this week rolled out a new line of updates in the form of prompts that not only add safety but also encourage younger individuals to take breaks along the way.
For starters, the company revealed how it is updating its recommendations tab. After working on this for years and having plenty of child experts on the team, they’ve really enhanced their own understanding of the various content formats that might serve as harmful for teenagers. And that’s all thanks to the great exposure they’re forced to deal with on a routine basis.
The company added today how its top-of-the-line Advisory Committee is making some great contributions to curb the matter and give the platform advice about how the app can impact teens in their growing stage. To be more specific, they spoke about how content continues to be consumed on the web and how it could affect their general well-being.
And remember, let’s not forget how it’s the younger online user group that’s more likely to feel the impact than those of an older age. So yes, teenagers can create more negative feelings regarding themselves after seeing texts taking place repeatedly in terms of standards and the types of content consumed online.
Keeping thoughts like this in mind, the popular app says recommendations would be limited for youngsters in the teenage phase to include just some specific domains. For instance, they’ll be seeing less of the content that compares various physical traits and promotes a few types against all others.
On the other hand, this type of content would idealize a particular type of fitness level or bring up body weight comparisons. Last but not least, any type of content that puts out social aggression isn’t going to be appreciated like content related to intimidation.
The platform added that when you’re seeing one solo video on YouTube, the issue isn’t a huge deal but once you keep on seeing them regularly, it becomes embedded in your mind.
But we must add how interesting it has become to see the app include this as it is a replica of how China’s government is handling its Douyin app which is like a Chinese variant of TikTok.
As far as Douyin is concerned, officials mentioned the various kinds of harmful trends that this is becoming famous for. Therefore, that’s when it opted to step in and stir up the balance to make sure only content that had positive feelings was on display for the youth.
The government of China’s role is certainly more forceful than what YouTube is trying to pull off but the fact that YouTube cares is a great step in the right direction. Moreover, it actually does end up putting a lot of emphasis on how your habits online may impact the behaviors arising around the globe and that would lead to a lot of stuff being thrown under the rug.
In other news, the company is also prompting young users to take breaks from their screen time by rolling out alerts or reminders. This includes new panels for crisis resources that are embedded into the complete page.
This will assist viewers in terms of allowing them to pause for a specific moment in time and help go through different kinds of help topics when searching on the app for any kind of question linked to controversial topics. For instance, self-harm or struggling with your eating.
Last but not least, the app is also working closely with the WHO and other organizations to create a safer online network by helping young creators design responsible content.
Read next: Click with Caution: The Internet's Privacy Policy Hide and Seek
The younger population continually suffers from being overexposed to mature content while others are reeling from the effects related to excess use of social media. But thankfully, one of the world’s most popular video-sharing apps, YouTube is working hard to combat the problem.
The platform this week rolled out a new line of updates in the form of prompts that not only add safety but also encourage younger individuals to take breaks along the way.
For starters, the company revealed how it is updating its recommendations tab. After working on this for years and having plenty of child experts on the team, they’ve really enhanced their own understanding of the various content formats that might serve as harmful for teenagers. And that’s all thanks to the great exposure they’re forced to deal with on a routine basis.
The company added today how its top-of-the-line Advisory Committee is making some great contributions to curb the matter and give the platform advice about how the app can impact teens in their growing stage. To be more specific, they spoke about how content continues to be consumed on the web and how it could affect their general well-being.
And remember, let’s not forget how it’s the younger online user group that’s more likely to feel the impact than those of an older age. So yes, teenagers can create more negative feelings regarding themselves after seeing texts taking place repeatedly in terms of standards and the types of content consumed online.
Keeping thoughts like this in mind, the popular app says recommendations would be limited for youngsters in the teenage phase to include just some specific domains. For instance, they’ll be seeing less of the content that compares various physical traits and promotes a few types against all others.
On the other hand, this type of content would idealize a particular type of fitness level or bring up body weight comparisons. Last but not least, any type of content that puts out social aggression isn’t going to be appreciated like content related to intimidation.
The platform added that when you’re seeing one solo video on YouTube, the issue isn’t a huge deal but once you keep on seeing them regularly, it becomes embedded in your mind.
But we must add how interesting it has become to see the app include this as it is a replica of how China’s government is handling its Douyin app which is like a Chinese variant of TikTok.
As far as Douyin is concerned, officials mentioned the various kinds of harmful trends that this is becoming famous for. Therefore, that’s when it opted to step in and stir up the balance to make sure only content that had positive feelings was on display for the youth.
The government of China’s role is certainly more forceful than what YouTube is trying to pull off but the fact that YouTube cares is a great step in the right direction. Moreover, it actually does end up putting a lot of emphasis on how your habits online may impact the behaviors arising around the globe and that would lead to a lot of stuff being thrown under the rug.
In other news, the company is also prompting young users to take breaks from their screen time by rolling out alerts or reminders. This includes new panels for crisis resources that are embedded into the complete page.
This will assist viewers in terms of allowing them to pause for a specific moment in time and help go through different kinds of help topics when searching on the app for any kind of question linked to controversial topics. For instance, self-harm or struggling with your eating.
Last but not least, the app is also working closely with the WHO and other organizations to create a safer online network by helping young creators design responsible content.
Read next: Click with Caution: The Internet's Privacy Policy Hide and Seek
