• Is it age appropriate?

  About our ratings

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  Not age appropriate for kids under 13, age appropriate for kids over 15; suggested age 13.

• Is it any good?

  3.0

• Common Sense says

  Video site is older than YouTube but not as kid friendly.

Why We Rated This for Ages 13–15

The good stuff

• Educational value:

  This self-described premium site is picky about submissions: users can wait days for approval and 90 percent of videos are rejected, so it's not an encouraging environment for kids. (By contrast, YouTube automatically posts videos.)  The site does have some decent content for kids, but parents will have to ferret it out: a how-to section, a few Mister Rogers' Neighborhood episodes, lots of news segments and episodes of educational shows like the cooking series Epicurious.
• User-created content:

  Along with professional content from partners such as CBS, the site has the usual all-over-the-map amateur fare. A lot of it, such as pet tricks, is harmless but there's also plenty of sexual stuff and videos of questionable taste. 
• Messages:

  Like YouTube, the site is a grab bag of everything from  dreck like the Playboy Best Butt challenge to episodes of Biography, with plenty in between. The free-for-all certainly teaches kids freedom of speech, but parents will want to establish what they consider acceptable.   

What to watch out for

• Violence:

  Most videos on the site aren't violent but some are. Watch out for gory movie trailers, intense game demos, court-room beatings caught on tape, and disturbing clips such as the soccer player who collapses and dies on the field.
• Sex:

  There's lots of adult-oriented material kids really shouldn't see. We found steamy movie and game previews, naughty Harry Potter parodies, ads for escort services, how-to sex tutorials and lots of naked flesh -- and that was with the Family Filter turned on. 
• Language:

  The vast majority of clips are okay, but a few, mostly TV segments such as the Sarah Silverman Show, have crude language like f--k and a--hole. So do some of the unregulated public comments and forum posts.
• Consumerism:

  There are ads everywhere you turn. Most of the products being advertised are G rated and the banners are tasteful, not junky-looking flash. However, searches can turn up related Google ads that are X-rated, and most of the videos on the site are preceded by long annoying commercials that put an awful lot of product placement in the user's way. In one hour of surfing we must have sat through the same 30-second Mucinex spot at least a dozen times. 
• Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

  TV and movie clips that parody or treat these bad habits matter-of-factly seem to outnumber the educational videos.

How safe is it?

• Personal privacy:

  Privacy is pretty good, although not as good as YouTube's. The only personal info users are required to share is an email address, and that's only if they want to upload their own videos. Users can remove their own videos from the site at any time. However, they can't take back comments or choose who can see their videos. All submissions, if accepted, are public.
• Online interaction:

  Users can flag objectionable videos and comments but there are no special protections for kids.  Comments are usually civil but can be lewd, depending on the video being discussed. The site doesn't monitor emails between users.
   
• Parental controls:

  Parents might reasonably conclude from all the ratings and filters that they have some control over what kids view but alas, as with most other video sites, they do not.  Kids can watch any video, even those rated 13+ or 18+ for mature viewers. The so-called Family Filter works about as well as YouTube's minor filter; in other words, not at all judging from the nudity and foul language that sails right through.

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