My 5yo watches a lot of YouTube (educational stuff mostly - StampyLonghead, CoComelon, etc) but the recommended videos next to them are INSANE. I saw Baby Shark but next to it was some weird animation that looked super creepy. I don't get how YouTube allows this. We use YouTube Kids now but even that seems sketchy sometimes. Anyone else having this issue?
The weird creepy animations next to legit kids' content is SO common and YouTube doesn't care. Those AI-generated weird Baby Shark knockoffs are the worst. YouTube Kids filters some of it but you're right that it's not foolproof. We mostly just sit with our 5yo when he's watching and actively scroll through recommendations before he clicks anything.
YouTube's algorithm is absolutely broken for kids' content. We found the same thing - educational video, then INSANE recommended garbage next to it. YouTube Kids is better but still sketchy sometimes. We just switched to a whitelist approach where we pre-approve specific channels and that's it.
Pro tip: disable autoplay entirely if he's watching on a TV or tablet. Forces you to manually select the next video instead of letting the algorithm take over. Pain in the ass but worth it for peace of mind.
YouTube allows it because they make money either way and parental controls are an afterthought to them. The creepy animation thing - was it one of those sketchy "kids" channels that's actually designed to mess with children? Because those are everywhere.
StampyLonghead and CoComelon are legit good though. The problem is YouTube's recommendation engine will serve basically anything alongside educational content. Have you tried enabling restricted mode? It's not perfect but it blocks a lot of the weird stuff.
Those random creepy animation videos are unhinged. I don't understand how they get monetized. There's zero parental controls that actually work - YouTube Kids is supposed to be curated but I still see weird stuff in there. We basically have to manually pre-approve everything or sit there the whole time.
The algorithm thing is wild because YouTube KNOWS these are kids' videos and still serves adjacent content that looks like it was made by an AI on a bad day. It's not a bug, it's a feature - engagement is the goal. Only real solution seems to be not letting them browse recommendations at all.
YouTube's recommendation algorithm is genuinely broken for kids. I've seen the same thing - your kid watches Stampy, next recommended is some nightmare fuel. YouTube Kids is better but yeah, it's not perfect either. I just manually approve everything now because I don't trust the filters.
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The Stampy to creepy animation pipeline is real and YouTube knows about it and doesn't care. I've basically given up on the algorithm and just have a whitelist of channels he's allowed to watch. Tedious but my kid isn't getting exposed to weird stuff.
YouTube Kids is honestly still way better than regular YouTube for this reason alone, even if it's not perfect. At least the weird stuff is filtered out 95% of the time.