[rootusrootus]

> Why do we let kids use this again?

I don't, no matter how much they ask. The most I've acquiesced to is a small amount of YouTube time per day. It gets harder the older they get. My daughter can now just use her school laptop (while at school, at least) to watch as much YouTube as she can find time for. I'm not real happy about it, but part of raising kids is learning to accept the steady transfer of their autonomy over to them. I just keep gently harping on how low quality this kind of content is, what the motivations behind it are, etc.

[andrepd]

There's dogshit content on YouTube (Mr Beast, moronic reaction and gaming videos, alt-right propaganda), but there's also more interesting content than you can watch in several lifetimes (documentaries, speeches and lectures, recorded courses from top universities on everything from physics to music, etc).

It's about curating this yourself for your child (as opposed to giving them unrestricted access), and then slowly giving them control and hope they have good taste :)

[rd]

It’s funny you lump in MrBeast with the other two. I’ll admit his content is 0 value, but in terms of entertainment, it’s far higher than anything else on the platform. I’d be far more upset at my kids for watching a reaction YouTuber or any influencer, than I would mrbeast.

[tkanarsky]

He's a downright clever guy who knows exactly what he's doing to maximize entertainment value, and, by proxy, clicks and therefore revenue. He was on the Lex Fridman podcast a few weeks back, pretty good listening.

[andrepd]

I absolutely detest those videos, and I have to say I don't understand the appeal at all. It's a combination of of unhinged consumerism and that uncanny fake excitement which is extremely off-putting to me.