YouTube has just announced a series of new updates to help families better control how children and teenagers use this video sharing platform.
The changes focus on building healthy viewing habits, enhancing safety and simplifying account management, reflecting YouTube's long-term efforts to create an online environment suitable for each age group.
According to YouTube, teenagers come to the platform for many different purposes, from studying, following favorite creators, listening to podcasts to watching sports moments.
Instead of completely restricting access, YouTube said its goal is to protect young users, while allowing them to explore the digital world responsibly.
YouTube's new strategy revolves around three main pillars, built on the recommendations of parents and child development experts.
First, it supports the formation of healthy viewing habits; second, it enhances security and ensures content suitable for age; and third, it simplifies the account setting process so that families can easily choose the right experience for each child.
The most notable point in this update series is the YouTube Shorts control tool. Parents can now limit the number of shorts videos their children watch, even in the near future they can set a limit to 0.
YouTube said this is the first feature in the industry that allows parents to directly control the consumption of short content, which is designed to attract and easily cause continuous viewing.
The new tools are designed flexibly to suit the rhythm of family life. Parents can block Shorts during their child's studies, then relax the limits during free time or when traveling.
In addition, parents managing supervised accounts can also customize nap reminders and Breaks, expanding digital health care features that have been turned on by default for teenagers.
In addition to control, YouTube also focuses on improving the quality of content proposed for young users. This platform has built a new set of guidelines for creators, clearly defining what high-quality content is for teenagers.
These principles are based on the opinions of young people, researchers and child development experts, aiming to prioritize educational, storytelling and personal development videos.
Finally, YouTube is simplifying the creation and management of family accounts. In the near future, parents will easily create accounts for their children and switch between accounts right in the mobile application.
YouTube affirms that these changes are aimed at ensuring that children and adolescents can learn, entertain and explore in a space that is both safe and inspiring.
