YouTube is rolling out an expanded supervised usage experience in the app, which will give parents more oversight into their kids’ channel activity, and what they’re posting and sharing in the app.
As you can see in this example sequence, now, as part of YouTube’s Family Center, parents will be able to connect their child’s account, which will then give them insight into usage stats and engagement details, so that they can better track how they’re using the app.
As explained by YouTube:
“Beginning to roll out to families globally this week, the first iteration of this experience builds on our existing supervised experience for pre-teens. Soon, parents and teens will be able to link their YouTube accounts in our new Family Center hub. In Family Center, parents can see shared insights into their teens’ channel activity on YouTube including the number of uploads, subscriptions and comments.”
Parents will also be able to get email notifications about key events, “like when teens upload a video or start a livestream”, which will provide additional supervisory capacity, helping parents understand and monitor their child’s usage.
To clarify, kids need to be at least 13 years old to sign up for an account in the main YouTube app. Parents of younger kids can create profiles on YouTube Kids, but in order to use the regular YouTube app, you need to be at least a teenager.
Which is the focus of this new experience, providing parents of teens with more peace of mind, via transparency into what their kids are doing in the app. YouTube has offered varying levels of supervised in-app experiences since 2021, but this update is specifically on uploads, and what your kids are sharing in the app.
And YouTube has had its fair share of concerns on this front.
Various reports have indicated that YouTube rabbit holes can lead to concerning and harmful content areas, and even radicalize kids with ideological representations. The popularity and influence of creators like Andrew Tate (who, it’s worth noting, was banned from YouTube in 2022) among young adults points to the potential harm that can be caused by YouTube content, and following certain trends and movements online.
As such, this is a valuable addition, which many parents will no doubt be interested in. Of course, kids can also get around these features, in various ways, but they at least provide some measure of insight to help monitor and protect your kids.
YouTube says that the new parental supervision option is being rolled out from this week.
