What is YouTube?
YouTube is a video sharing service where users can watch, like, share, comment and upload their own videos. The video service can be accessed on PCs, laptops, tablets and via mobile phones.
YouTube is a website designed for sharing video. Millions of users around the world have created accounts on the site that allow them to upload videos that anyone can watch. Every minute of every day, more than 35 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube.
Video files can be very large and are often too big to send to someone else by email. By posting a video on YouTube, you can share a video simply by sending the other person a url ‘link’ – that is, the 'address' of the relevant internet page.
When YouTube was created in 2005, it was intended for people to post and share original video content. But since then it's also become both an archive for storing favourite clips, songs and jokes, as well as a marketing site for companies to promote their products.
Nowadays the term ‘viral video’ is common. This refers to a video clip that people have liked so much that they've shared its link by email with millions of others around the globe – in effect, it's spread like a virus. Companies have realised that they can harness this ability to reach potential customers and have created their own YouTube accounts for posting advertisements and other marketing videos.
Film and television companies maintain a tight control over their own content and block illegal sharing of their programmes. However, several now use YouTube to allow fans to see high-quality trailers or repeats of recently aired shows.
What are the main functions of YouTube?
- Users can search for and watch videos
- Create a personal YouTube channel
- Upload videos to your channel
- Like/Comment/share other YouTube videos
- Users can subscribe/follow other YouTube channels and users
- Create playlists to organize videos and group videos together
Why do teens like YouTube?
YouTube is a free to use service and a can be a great space for teens to discover things they like. For many young people YouTube is used to watch music videos, comedy shows, how to guides, recipes, hacks and more. Teens also use the video sharing service to follow their favourite vloggers (video blogger), subscribe to other YouTubers and celebrities they are inter
What are the main functions of YouTube?
- Users can search for and watch videos
- Create a personal YouTube channel
- Upload videos to your channel
- Like/Comment/share other YouTube videos
- Users can subscribe/follow other YouTube channels and users
- Create playlists to organize videos and group videos togethe
Why do teens like YouTube?
YouTube is a free to use service and a can be a great space for teens to discover things they like. For many young people YouTube is used to watch music videos, comedy shows, how to guides, recipes, hacks and more. Teens also use the video sharing service to follow their favourite vloggers (video blogger), subscribe to other YouTubers and celebrities they are interested in.
Is there an age restriction to use YouTube?
To set up a YouTube account users must be 13+ years of age. However users do not need to sign-in to access the website or to view videos. There is however a YouTube kids version now available to download for free. YouTube kids is designed for children aged 3-8 years old and makes it easier for children and parents to find content they are interested in.
What are the risks?
YouTube is a great place to discover new things, learn and get entertainment, however there are some things parents and teens should be aware of when using the service.
Inappropriate Content.
YouTube has over a billion users and with an estimated 300 hours of footage uploaded per minute, not all of it is appropriate for children.
But you can help minimise the risk of your child encountering content that may not be appropriate for them. If you or your child sees something inappropriate, users can flag the video with YouTube. For more info on flagging inappropriate content go to: google.com/youtube/
Cyber Bullying.
Unfortunately, people can experience negative comments and bullying on the service particularly through the comments function (YouTube users can comment on other users videos). If your child has a YouTube channel/profile it might be a good idea to recommend they disable comments on their own profile/channel. This can be done very easily via settings and helps minimise risk of experiencing negative comments. If your child is experiencing harassment on YouTube, you can block and report users.
See below for more info on reporting and blocking users
Block Users: google.com/youtube/block
Report Abuse: youtube.com/reportabuse
Tips for keeping your Child safe on YouTube.
Managing Privacy Settings.
When a user uploads a video to YouTube, by default the video is set to public, which means anyone can see the video. Depending on the age of your child, you should discuss what settings are best to use if your child is uploading footage to YouTube. You can easily switch videos to private or unlisted (published on YouTube but cannot be found without a direct link to the video.
You can also invite people to view your videos using Google Circles. Please note, you need to link your channel with Google+ in order to share a private video with other users. Click here for info on how to connect a YouTube channel to a Google+ profile
Disable comments on YouTube.
YouTube allows you to disable comments entirely on videos or users have the options to approve each comment before they are published, this can help avoid risks of experiencing cyber bullying.
Use Safety Mode.
YouTube has a Safety mode, a setting which gives users the opportunity to bar mature content. It is an “opt-in” setting, which means that it won’t take effect until you switch it on. The setting filters search results to remove videos with mature content or videos that has been age restricted, meaning that such content will not show up in video searches, related videos, playlists, shows or movie sections. While no filtering system is 100 per cent accurate, we recommend that parents of young children enable this feature.
How Much Video Uploaded To Youtube.
In 2014 YouTube said that 300 hours of new videos were uploaded to the site every minute, three times more than one year earlier and that around three quarters of the material comes from outside the U.S. The site has 800 million unique users a month.
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