'Supervised Experience': YouTube Launches New Feature for Parents and Kids
'26.02.2021'
Source: New Time
YouTube is launching a "controlled experience" feature to help parents manage the content their kids can find on the platform. New Time.
This feature is suitable for parents of those children who are already too old to watch YouTube Kids, but still too young to get full access.
The developers note on their blog that the filters will help parents gradually introduce their older children to age-appropriate content and features outside of the YouTube Kids app. The feature will now appear in early beta access, which will be available to more users "in the coming months".
Parents can choose from three categories that will give their child access to specific content.
- The "Research" level is suitable for children 9-13 years old. The company clarifies that at this level, children will be able to watch "video blogs, study guides, game videos, music videos, news, educational content and more."
- See More - for children over 13 years old. There is no precise definition of what the child will be able to watch. The company writes that at this level "there will be a wider range of videos as well as live streams for the aforementioned categories."
- “Most of YouTube” includes almost all content except those marked with age restrictions (21+). The category will contain "sensitive topics that may only be suitable for older teenagers."
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YouTube's supervised experience is still a system based on user input, human validation, and machine learning. The company notes that right after launch, the feature "might make mistakes." However, it is better than nothing - parents can still give their child the freedom to choose videos, while being sure that he does not end up on "too impressionable" videos.
