My kids are firmly in Generation Z. They've never known a phone that doesn't have Internet connectivity or even think about what time the rates go down. Services like YouTube are second nature to them.
My kids spend hours on hours looking at YouTube videos on Minecraft. I consider myself pretty technical but I don't think I'll ever get my head around that. This is a trend as well. These services are becoming more mainstream everyday. In 2014, Amazon bought Twitch for $940 million.
So when my kids came to me asking for a YouTube channel to show of their videos I was intrigued but hesitant. Should I let them? Is it safe? Why on earth would anyone want to do this? The answer to the latter question is simple. Because it's fun and potentially could make money my kids explained to me.
My kids spend hours on hours looking at YouTube videos on Minecraft. I consider myself pretty technical but I don't think I'll ever get my head around that. This is a trend as well. These services are becoming more mainstream everyday. In 2014, Amazon bought Twitch for $940 million.
So when my kids came to me asking for a YouTube channel to show of their videos I was intrigued but hesitant. Should I let them? Is it safe? Why on earth would anyone want to do this? The answer to the latter question is simple. Because it's fun and potentially could make money my kids explained to me.
I didn't want to say "No" right away. I wanted to learn more. I searched the Internet and found limited but good information like this article from Common Sense Media. In fact, in part due to this article I decided to let them have their channel with the following caveats:
1. I talked to them about negative criticism. Not everything people say is positive and they need to be able to accept that.
2. Their videos are previewed before they are posted. This way any personal identifiable information is not inadvertently revealed.
3. Though there are a handful of people making good money from these videos, I explained to them that they will likely not see much, if anything.
Growing up I heard the phrase "Let him get it out of his system" a lot. So, with the caveats agreed too and my instinct that this may fade away as well, I let them have their channel. A few weeks in, they are still going strong. If the most that comes of this is that my kids learn to take negative feedback, I'll consider this a worthwhile endeavor.
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