Mr. Rodgers was an American icon who brought mounds of joy and education to at least two generations. He managed create a media industry with limits as to what behavior is decent. Mr. Rodgers was the moderator of early television. However, new versions of media are emerging with more adult concepts and being accessible to younger viewer. We encounter a problem with a multitude of media outlets, the most notable of which is Youtube. Who is to be the moderator of this new media format?

The average age at which a child has a personal cell phone is 10 and most children are raised with tablets as soon as 15 months old. These devices contain enormous collections of information that were never accessible before and can provide forms of communication never possible before. Youtube is one of the most prominent examples of media for all ages. Google has designed algorithms to filter child appropriate videos from the latter and created a children’s version of the Youtube application. Video creators found ways to abuse a child’s way to grasp onto any trend they find. For example after the Frozen movie was released by Disney, children loved it and video creators immediately exploited this immediately and in a day “children’s Youtube” was filled with poorly made videos that encourage children to click and watch half an hour of nonsense.

Unfortunately, the problem only gets worse. Google saw a rising problem on this “children’s” platform. In order to take advantage of a child’s daring nature many videos would include subjects that are taboo to a child such as regurgitation, defecation, and urination. As a result, Google terminated their kid’s Youtube program and disabled a majority of “children’s” video creators. The platform was never designed for children but regardless of suggestions parents fail to restrict this material.

A large majority of parents were unaware that there was a lack positive influencer’s on Youtube. This was only first brought to attention when popular video creator Logan Paul recorded a dead body. It is worth noting that posting this on the internet was in no way an accident. The video was first recorded, reviewed by a team of editors, and publicized with the title “WE FOUND A DEAD BODY”. Logan Paul has an audience primarily consisting of elementary school students. In the video a grotesque recording of a Japanese man hanging from a rope was on screen for 30 seconds along with laughter and comments like, “Like, you know this stuff is pretty normal for the Japanese to, like, do.” This video was available for anyone with an internet connection to watch for three whole days. The video received 4 million views in one day and it is estimated that about 80% of that audience was in the age range of 6-12.

To say that there are no positive influencers on Youtube would not be true. There are plenty of people who express positive messages. But, “If it bleeds, it leads” and this is as true with Youtube as it is with any other platform. People are thought to find graphic and disconcerting material more attractive. Mr. Rodgers proved this false with television but right now the video streaming industry is in need of a savior.