What do you know about the YouTube kid's app?

[crazy chris]

Hey guys!! Not sure if everyone was aware...but Youtube recently released a kid safe app called the youtube kids app... it filters kid friendly content and eliminates the ability to comment on content and other interactive options that may prove unsafe for kids...

Our stuff has luckily made the cut and most of it has made its way on to the app... buried deep amongst a sea of other stuff ofcourse...but oddly enough....one of our songs "Starry Afternoon" did not make the cut... this song has absolutely nothing un-kid-friendly in it...and is actually featured on our episode which DID make the cut...

So my question is... does anyone have any idea the criteria of selection...is it done manually? is there someone we could contact? Just curious because we were a bit baffled by it.

Also... for anyone putting out kid friendly content... do u think the app is a good thing or bad thing? I like it because it atleast "trims the fat" of other annoying adult content that comes up in puppet searches...like the endless barrage of "Five nights at freddies" content... but on a negative note it seems to eliminate all feedback...and even "subscribers" as far as i can tell... because viewers cannot do anything except watch.

cc

 

[DerpSandwich]

This is the first time I've heard about it. Does it just automatically go through everything on Youtube and grab what it wants, or did you have to submit somewhere? I can't seem to find any info on that.

 

[crazy chris]

This is the first time I've heard about it. Does it just automatically go through everything on Youtube and grab what it wants, or did you have to submit somewhere? I can't seem to find any info on that.

Ive yet to figure it out either... but somehow theyve done it... the more i search around on the app...the more random it seems... like it has a few of the Glove and Boots vids...but not all... its weird... if u find out any info please let us know...

 

[ma0298]

Not sure... But I looked into it when I found out it was released, and there is a youtuber I hear about from little ones all the time called "sky does minecraft" ( this is one of those people that cusses every 40 seconds, and is not child friendly at all) anyway, I looked him on using the "youtube for kids app" and I found his stuff extremely easily. So I dont know how well it filters through things... It is strange though

 

[DerpSandwich]

Not sure... But I looked into it when I found out it was released, and there is a youtuber I hear about from little ones all the time called "sky does minecraft" ( this is one of those people that cusses every 40 seconds, and is not child friendly at all) anyway, I looked him on using the "youtube for kids app" and I found his stuff extremely easily. So I dont know how well it filters through things... It is strange though

That's bizarre! You would think they would make absolutely sure they were getting kid-friendly content before telling all those parents to put their full trust in the app! I just wish I had a smart device so I could fiddle with the thing too.

 

[crazy chris]

Wow... that IS bizarre... espescially since our song is somehow didnt make the cut...and it even has "song for kids" in the title...

 

[DerpSandwich]

So I found an Android emulator and got to poke around. My channel was automatically added too, and all my videos are there except for one or two. Maybe they always shave off a little? I don't really know. Or maybe it's still automatically curating and they'll all be added eventually.

Overall it's a pretty cool thing though. I created Fuzzaboom with smart devices in mind, so it's great to see how it works on a dedicated app like this.

 

[crazy chris]

yeah... i agree..... i think its a good thing! Hopefully they get all the bugs fixed and our quality content will smoothly be added....and i kinda wish they would sell reasonably priced "boosting" incentives to move less famous content to the front on occasion... id pay 100 a month to know our show would be front page a couple hours hear and there... it would be worth it

 

[D'Snowth]

The sad truth is kids are pretty much encouraged to cuss nowadays. It's true. The mentality of most people today is kids are "smart enough" to not be "sheltered" from real world/real life experiences, and it seems like many feel that once kids reach a certain age (like past kindergarten, for example), then they should be able to hear/use cuss words, be exposed to excessive violence, be able to witness sexual activity (heck, Reese Witherspoon's new movie has her engaging in a number of sex scenes, and she actually wants her kids to watch -- now, what kind of a mother wants their children to see her engaging in sexual activity - acting or not?). You especially find a lot of this among ghetto, hood, and trailer park communities. It's sad, but unfortunately, it's just another sign of the times of how far our society has decayed and crumbled. You know, I'm actually old enough to remember a time when we as kids were even forbidden to say more innocent four-lettered words like "crap", "fart", and "suck" (remember when those used to be considered "bad words"?).

This is where I find some fault with the internet in terms of using it as an outlet for entertainment: unlike television and film (in this day and age, believe it not), there's really no rules of censorship with the internet, so because of that, people feel the need to be as vulgar and obscene as they want to be, because they can get away with it. I remember when one of those canceled network daytime soaps found new life as a Netflix-exclusive series, the cast and crew were delighted that they could actually show graphic sexual content that they weren't allowed to on network. As much as I've enjoyed Doug Walker's work, I feel he could tone his use of swearing a tad - it works when he's going into his meltdowns and rants, but just in his normal tone of reviewing, it may not entirely be necessary.

With that said, while I haven't seen or used this so-called YouTube Kids App, my assumption is that it will filter out only videos that have actually be flagged for content, and a lot of times, there are clips and vids on YT that may have unsuitable content, but they're publically available because they haven't been flagged. That's just my thinking. I seriously doubt the higher ups at YT and Google are actually going to sit there and sift through millions of random videos posted on YT to see what's suitable for kids and what's not. Heck, anymore Google Image search results turn up nudity even with SafeSearch turned on.

 

[crazy chris]

did a quick search...Looks like 2 of your vids made the cut Joseph