The things you need to know about YouTube to keep your kids safe.
What's going on. I'm Rich Damiro.
This is Rich on Tech and joining me today is Kevin Grush.
He is the CEO of the Maiden Network.
They make a bunch of videos for YouTube, and he's going to talk about some of the ways we can keep our kids safe when they're watching YouTube.
Kevin, thanks so much for joining me.
Of course, thank you for having me.
So tell me about Maiden. What kind of videos are you making?
So we are making content in all different genres on YouTube right now, from food content to entertainment, pop culture videos. Some of our biggest channels are cinema sins binging with Babbish. We also represent a channel a guy named Marty Schwartz who's the biggest guitar teacher on YouTube.
So all kind of across the board.
And tell me about the state of YouTube. How big is this platform? I know, I look at it every single day. Yeah, I assume I'm looking at it less than a lot of people out there.
Yeah, it's you know, YouTube continues to grow, not just in the amount of users on the platform, but really in how they're watching and how long they're watching. So we're seeing longer and longer watch times, people spending more time on the platform, watching it like it's TV, tuning in at regularly scheduled times, as opposed to just using it as maybe a resource when you're you know, looking up how to do something around the house or or something like that.
And I imagine the growth is going to continue because more people are cutting the cord and they're looking for something to replaced, kind of like what they used to watch on TV. All right, so we're talking about kids. Now, I've got a couple kids. I don't really let them watch YouTube kind of all by themselves, like I kind of, I do curate things a little bit. They don't have the YouTube app on their iPads, but they do watch
it on the TV screen, which I can see. So you've got a couple of tips that you want to share, and I thought this one was interesting.
You say, curate what's you and your children watch?
And I love the idea that you say. Well you say that to watch content from channels that you trust, but also create playlists in advance.
Yeah.
So so there are certainly channels on YouTube that are producing really great kids programming. As more and more kids are watching. As parents are allowing their kids to watch content on YouTube, there are certainly channels that are creating really high quality, safe content for kids, and so making sure that you know those channels, you've kind of vetted their content, and then that they're staying on those channels
is important. But even within that once they've watched one video, there can be others that pop up through the recommendation engine, So it might look like a similar video from that channel, but it might be from somewhere completely different. And so creating a playlist where every video on that playlist you have seen, you know what it is, and then they're just watching from that playlist is probably one of the best ways that you can ensure that the content they're watching is safe.
And I'll be honest, I don't think the time to create that playlist is when you're sitting down at a restaurant handing your phone over to the kids, because that's what parents are doing most of the time. That's not the time to create it. You create it in your own time, when you've got some time to do the research.
Right sure, and it's I mean, it's super easy to do.
Once once you've seen a video, even if it's a video that they've watched before and you know that it's safe just in that moment. If you've already created that playlist, it's it's one click of a button to make sure that it's added to it. And then in that moment, whether you're at the restaurant or or some other time when when you're wanting.
To keep them occupied, you have that playlist ready to go.
Yeah, and we all know kids love to watch things a bazillion times, so it doesn't matter if they've seen it. You can add it to the playlist and they'll watch it again. So they've got the YouTube Kids app. And this took a lot of heat. I don't know, maybe it was six months or a year ago when people realize that this was not a curated app, this was
an algorithm driven app. So I think YouTube has done a little bit better job at making the YouTube Kids app friendlier for kids, but it's still not one hundred percent there, Like it's not one hundred percent safe visit.
Yeah, So I mean you have to understand that the reality around the volume of content is uploaded to YouTube constantly, and so to be able to keep up with that that volume of content there has to be an algorithm that is allowing YouTube to place content in front of
its viewers. That being said, it's not a perfect system, as you mentioned, And so even though the YouTube's kids app is kind of does some of the work for you by making sure that there is certainly not everything on YouTube there, there's still ways that things could slip
through the cracks. And so with a little bit of effort of just making sure that you're actually seeing what they're watching in advance, is going to make sure that that you shure up any of those any of those negative possibilities.
And you say that you can disable search inside the app, you can set time limits, which you can now do in the regular app. I noticed, so I guess adults need some time limits as well. Yeah, YouTube, this was really interesting. So there's this concept you call it YouTube poop, and I've seen this before and there you know, it's like a video starts out nice, like a Pepa pig video, but then it's sort of I call it terms evil almost where your kids are seeing things that they shouldn't
be seeing. Why do people do this and how do you avoid that? I guess I mean you avoid it by I mean there's ways you can tell about that, But I mean just the awareness of this is important.
I think that's the most important part. And to be familiar with these platforms, right, So understanding when we're talking about a channel and what's actually on a particular channel versus what's just out on YouTube is really important. So just familiarize yourself with the platform and the functionality so that you know.
We might be giving these really helpful tips.
But if if you know some of those basic things you haven't you know, understood or dove into on your own, they still could present problems.
So it's easy stuff to do.
It really is knowing that those dangers exist so that you can take the very simple steps to protect against them.
And I think it really a lot of it comes down to discoverability. YouTube wants you to discover a bunch of different stuff. So you were showing me inside the app, when you're watching a video, you would think that the video is underneath there would be sort of from that same channel, which would help you out as a creator.
Yeah, But what YouTube.
Wants to do is get you exposed to as many videos as possible, just in the hopes that you might click another one.
Yeah, so you're gonna see in the recommendations after you watch a video, whether it's below or on or on the side, depending on if you're which platform you're watching, you're going to see a number of videos that are from the same creator that you might have deemed safe. That being said, there are other videos that are trying to capitalize on the popularity in the search around a
particular channel or type of video. And then, like you said, YouTube is trying to make sure that they're introducing you to all sorts of other.
Creators that's similar, that's based on your interest. But and they do a really good job.
But there are occasions when people are manipulating that to the point where they're sneaking you know, that evil stuff in that will allow you to that allow your kids to stumble upon it in quite innocently oftentimes.
And also you say to look at the channel name kind of like identify those and the thumbnails, even though those can be a little bit misleading sometimes.
Yeah, so that's kind of some of the tools that they'll actually use to mislead you, is that if you're on a channel of Pepa Pig, for example, and then you see another thumbnail that has pep a Pig in it. You assume that it's from the same distributor of Pep
a Pig content. It could be someone completely different who's just uploaded that, and so you want to make sure that you are actually make you know, you're understanding which channel is coming from, and then you actually watch the video as well.
Okay, this is a good one. Beware of auto play because.
Once a video finishes, another one's gonna start playing automatically. Yeah, you say to turn this off if you want to protect your kids.
I think it's I mean, it's a simple.
It's a simple, simple thing to do to be able to turn that feature off so that the next video that they watch has to be chosen either by you or that's playing from your playlist. So if you if you turn that off, you're not going to run into the risk of having one video play and then something unsavory popping up randomly after that.
Fact.
Again, YouTube is trying to make sure that they are close, you know, close as possible to what you're searching for, but there are ways to manipulate that to to you know, negative consequences, And as.
A parent, I get it.
You if you're handing over your phone to your kid you want them to watch for a while because you might be.
Doing something that's generally a lot of times.
But if you go back to those playlists that you recommended curating at the beginning, that's a really smart way to know that, Hey, my kid's gonna watch five videos, but they're all gonna be something I've already screened, so turn off the AutoPlay. I'll put how to do that in the show notes, but it's pretty simple. And finally, you talk about not just monitoring what your kids are watching, but also sort of manage what they're posting because eventually they're going to turn into a creator.
I think we all are nowadays.
Yeah, And I think that that is really a positive element of what YouTube is inspiring in kids, is as they're seeing other kids like them who are building big audiences and creating content, and it's it's inspiring them to go make stuff themselves. That being said, it's important to understand that this is a social platform, and so there are people anyone can find that content, see that content, and communicate to your children, you know, through comments and messaging.
And so I would say, especially early on as your kids are starting to create content if they're just you know, they want to create videos, but you don't want that available to the entire world. Upload those videos as unlisted videos, meaning you can actually get the link. You can watch the video only if you have the link to it, so you can share it with friends and family wherever you choose, but that it's not available through YouTube as a search engine.
Okay, so if you do unlisted, you can text that link or share it with your friends and family. They can easily access it without logging in. But the random person can't really find that video unless they have the link, which that's right, they would have to get from someone. That's right, all right, Kevin Grush, thanks so much for joining me from the made in Network on YouTube and tell people again where where they can find your video.
Yeah, so you can go to madotnetwork dot com to learn more about our company and some of the channels that we represent. But you know, I think that you know, finding our channels ourselves, whether it be binging with Babbage Cinema, sins Marty Music among another, you know, amongst others, those are probably some of the best places to start.
All right.
Excellent, Thanks so much for joining me and telling us about what we need to know to keep our kids safe on YouTube. If you want links to what I talked about here, you can go to my website. It is rich on tech dot TV. Thanks so much for listening. I'll talk to you real soon