YouTube.com

Personal broadcasting; sometimes too personal.

Entertainment Value: High Graphics: User-submitted videos Playability: Easy Reading Level: Light Website: http://youtube.com

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that the site says it's not for kids under 13 and suggests that even kids 13-17 get permission from their parents before viewing. Some videos include graphic sex and violence, and language can be quite crude. As for postings, parents of teens should check out what their kids are uploading if they can. The performance aspects of YouTube don't always bring out our kids' best judgment.

Families can talk about what's so appealing about homemade videos. If your kids post videos, you might ask them what message they're trying to convey or accomplish in their submissions. How do they think people will react?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Jean Armour Polly

YOUTUBE.COM, a site where users upload and share original videos, is a phenomenon. Users can "tag" their videos with subject headings, such as "dogs," "comedy," or "topless." This lets others find videos featuring subjects that interest them. It's a popular place to go to see the latest silly Internet video that everyone's talking about.

The great majority of videos are of concert footage, sporting events, bootlegged commercial video, and homemade movies. Want to see video of Michael Jackson picking up his "Legends" award in Tokyo? It's here. Like to see the winner of last week's Masters horse show in Germany? No problem. Of course you can also see hentai (Japanese pornographic animation, often with big-eyed waifs in bondage). Although you can't automatically get to the adult videos without logging in, anyone can lie about their age and get an "adult" account. Although most of the videos aren't pornographic, some of the comments about any of the videos can be vulgar.

Users create "playlists" of favorite videos and can join communities of users who like to watch the same types of things, such as "Brooker's latest videos" -- but also "Gay Men Wrestling."

If you do decide to submit a video, you can choose whether you want to allow people to comment on it or not. If you decide to allow comments, you can moderate them first before making them live on the site. This allows you to weed out anything inappropriate.

Submitters are cautioned to refrain from showing personally identifiable information in their movies, or images that would help a stranger identify their locations. "Broadcasters" are able to release videos to the world, or just to a circle of friends and family. Additionally, users can easily remove their videos from the site anytime.

Just like any other Internet site, users have to be wary. It's not possible to tell who's authentic and who's really playing a character. Bottom line: This site isn't for kids, and parents should check in with older teens who use the site.

Reviewed: 06/14/2006

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Although you can't automatically get to the porn videos without logging in, anyone can lie about his age and get an account.
Violence There are violent videos, including violent anime. Many videos aren't violent at all.
Language Language in the videos and viewer comments is often crude and lewd. But, some videos don't have any profanity at all.
Message
	Social Behavior Videos don't always show the best role models.
	Commercialism Some ads for movies, etc.
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco References to all three in some of the videos and user comments.
	Educational Value Know your kid.