YouTube may not have sparked the short-form content craze, but it certainly loves to capitalize on it. Somewhere along the line, even the vampires executives at YouTube HQ felt at least a little bad for contributing to the continual frying of kids’ dopamine receptors, prompting the site to introduce parental controls for Shorts.
Announced in a blog post today, YouTube confirmed that parents would soon gain access to new controls that allow Shorts’ role on the site to be drastically diminished, or banished entirely for teen accounts (YouTube Kids doesn’t offer Shorts). Another one of its goals involves “introducing new principles and a creator guide to steer teens toward content that is fun, age-appropriate, higher-quality, and more enriching.”
Cut the Shorts… short
Initially, parents will only be able to set a daily limit on their teen’s time with Shorts. YouTube says the ability to set the timer to zero is coming “soon”. “This is an industry-first feature that puts parents firmly in control of the amount of short-form content their kids watch,” it said.
If a teen really wants to watch YouTube Shorts, nothing is stopping them from whipping up a quick Google account and getting right back to it. It’s a step in the right direction for the platform, however, and one that could potentially trim short-form viewing habits at the root before it does real damage.
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To help YouTube’s goal of steering “teens toward content that is fun, age-appropriate, higher-quality, and more enriching,” it’s partnered with several foundations to launch the project. The company hopes to convince content creators who are geared toward teen content to fall in line with the new ‘best practices’ guidelines that encourage “deep dive content” and “fuel existing interests”.
Finally, YouTube will revamp the sign-up experience for kids, allowing parents to onboard their kids more simply and quickly by selecting their preferred content. It’ll also make it easier for the adults in the house to switch between profiles, thereby ensuring “everyone in the family is in the right viewing experience with the content settings and recommendations”.
