Written by YouTube has a lot of different resources for the healthy and safe lives of its users. Most obviously is the massive collection of various videos to help teach and guide people to live healthier and safer lives. As shown below, these video collections are extensive in specific type of video (like the quick workout videos), as well as extensive in definition of concept (like the various ideas of “safety” videos). You can also see that YouTube advertisers various products that also help to provide a healthier and safer life to people.
Less obvious are the website’s policy, safety, and privacy guidelines. These are there to make sure that everyone can have a safe, enjoyable experience on the site. Below shows the various guidelines and the privacy policy of Google, the owners of YouTube. There are also a few videos about how they keep you safe from them, in addition to other users.
While YouTube takes great measures in making YouTube an overall positive environment for people, there is still room for improvement. One of the things that I think would benefit the website and its users is better verification policies for access to mature content, as well as, less strict regulations for mature content. It is very easy for an underage individual to gain access to a mature account, allowing them to view content they may not be mentally mature enough to handle viewing. I have also heard multiple stories of censorship on YouTube for things that don’t actually violate rules but still get censored on technicalities, while other content that does violate rules goes uncensored due to other technicalities. I believe that tackling these issues would increase mental health and safety for a lot of different users. I think the most critical need for YouTube, though, is better regulations for identifying satirical & incorrect information, as well as anything else that negatively manipulates viewer psyches into developing dangerous opinions that are harmful to themselves and/or others. We are living through a time where we have to watch our family, friends, and neighbors partake in unnecessarily violent and passionate arguments over incorrect understandings of, usually, insignificant topics. Most of these ideas tend to stem from a video seen on either Facebook or YouTube. So tackling this issue could make the world a safer, more peaceful place. Of course this is easier said than done. And it is easier for YouTube to skirt responsibility solely on content creators, since they are a neutral platform that is built on not hindering the creativity and art of video production. However, allowing your platform to be used in such a dramatically negative fashion is a show of gross negligence and aiding of crimes. If that’s enough for an individual to stand trial for a crime they didn’t commit, it should, logically, apply to corporations, too, especially since they are ruled as individuals.
s a neutral platform allowing it to happen.
Michael,
I completely agree with your viewpoint about YouTube’s community guidelines and their regulation of certain types of videos. Sometimes I hear of people and their videos getting taken down due to content they deem inappropriate meanwhile other creators’ content that calls for harsher ideas are still allowed on the website. Websites such as these are a blessing and a curse at the same time… it’s great as there is a lot more content that can be easily pulled up for entertainment, but the, dare I say, dangerous types of ideas can quickly get dispersed through the internet before getting caught, and by the time that this happens, it may be too late.
Craig and Michael. Unfortunately, people get away with a lot on YouTube. Those who want to make money on the platform are careful not to get their video demonetized. However, they can have a second channel and get away with being inappropriate to a certain degree.