When did kids' YouTube become impossible to moderate?

Dec 201 min read

I set up YouTube Kids for my 5yo because I thought it was "safe." But I keep finding weird stuff in the recommended section - like videos of people opening toy boxes for 20 minutes straight, or these creepy animations that are technically not "inappropriate" but feel wrong? And don't even get me started on the algorithm learning her preferences. She watched ONE video about slime and now that's literally all she sees. Are we supposed to just give up and let them watch regular YouTube with parental controls instead?

12 comments301 views

Comments(12)

JJason K.New DadDec 21

The weird recommendation spiral is real. We just locked ours to a specific list of creators we approved after week one of random stuff showing up. Takes more setup but stops the creepy rabbit holes

NNate H.RegularDec 21

Yeah YouTube Kids is a trap - it's 'safer' in that there's no adult content but the algorithm still optimizes for engagement and five-year-olds have no defenses against that. Most parents I know just use the approved apps list and ignore recommendations entirely

TTravis N.RegularDec 21

Those unboxing videos are literally designed to be addictive for kids. There's nothing inherently bad in them but they're engineered to keep 5yos watching forever. I switched to hand-curating a playlist of actual shows and that solved it

FFritz N.RegularDec 22

The unboxing video thing is so bizarre. Like why are these 20 minute videos of someone opening toys even a category? Anyway we just switched to specific channels we vetted ourselves instead of relying on YouTube's filter. Takes more effort but way more peace of mind

EEric V.RegularDec 22

We just started having our 5yo watch specific creators we actually know about instead of using the algorithm at all. Takes more planning but he sees like 1/10th of the weird stuff. Means I have to actually curate but it's worth not worrying about what he's gonna stumble into

ZZack M.RegularDec 22

The toy unboxing thing genuinely baffles me but apparently kids find it soothing? Like ASMR for toddlers. Still creepy that YouTube is recommending 4-hour compilations of it to a 5yo though

WWill T.RegularDec 22

YouTube Kids algorithm is genuinely weird - it's technically safe content but optimized for watch time which means it finds increasingly hypnotic unboxing videos and repetitive stuff. It's not malicious, just... algorithmically optimized in a way that's creepy

AAndy T.RegularDec 23

Honest question - have you looked at just downloading specific episodes of shows you trust and playing those instead? Sounds annoying but if you've got the space, it cuts the algorithm problem entirely. We do this with a Plex server but even just iTunes works

RRaj P.RegularDec 22

This is the weird rabbit hole of YouTube Kids. It's technically "filtered" but the recommendations are still algorithmically driven and sometimes they drift into the uncanny valley. You're probably gonna have to manually curate his watch history

SSteve B.RegularDec 22

The weird stuff isn't even always inappropriate, it's just... oddly designed to be oddly engaging. Like it's algorithmically optimized to be hypnotic to little kids. Not dangerous but kind of creepy when you think about it

TTodd N.RegularDec 22

YouTube Kids is a lot less safe than people think. The algorithm is still just... an algorithm, and "safe" is subjective. Those unboxing videos are weirdly hypnotic for kids but yeah, not really the content you want them stuck on for hours

VVince R.RegularDec 21

YouTube Kids is still better than regular YouTube but yeah you're right that it's not "safe" in the way the name suggests. More like "safer-ish." Your instinct to keep an eye on the recommendations is good - that's basically the job now