So the other day my seven-year-old son Aiden asked me, “Mom, can you film me doing my b-boy moves and put it online so Keza and Samson can YouTube me?” I nodded and went back to checking my emails. But I soon stopped and thought, hey, I don’t even have anything on YouTube, and how does he even know that he can post on YouTube?
The thing is when my husband discovered YouTube a couple of years ago, he obsessively looked up all kinds of shark and animal attacks. I’d catch him late at night trying to hide his laptop under the covers on his side of the bed. Disturbing, I know. After that it was clips from movies and TV shows. My husband soon graduated to Hulu for TV and film, but Aiden was hooked.
Soon he was asking his father or me to let him go online. I’d hear him teaching his younger sister the latest funny quotes from a clip he had watched. We, like many families in America, went through the “That really hurt Charlie” (said in a strong English accent), the surprised kitten and The Single Ladies baby. So when he asked me to film him and add him to the millions of videos posted by others, I should not have been surprised. To him, it is completely normal to film yourself and post it for the world to see. Keza and Samson did live in New Zealand, after all. How else could he get footage of himself to them with such ease?
I love the tag under the heading YouTube when you visit their website. “Broadcast yourself.” It’s a simple concept. Anyone can upload his or her personal videos for everyone to view. You can have your 15 seconds of fame. Though it has become a place which encourages voyerism and at times sheer slander, some people have benefited greatly through the medium by generating quite a following for themselves.
Take for example Fred Figglehorn. Have you watched this kid? Hilarious. He has over a million subscribers to his YouTube channel. It’s this kid actor from Nebraska who, along with his cousins, had this idea to create a character, film him and put him on YouTube. His character is a six-year-old named Fred whose voice is sped up to sound like a chipmunk. Kids love hearing about how he faces bullies, forgets to take his meds and continually vies for the heart of Judy. Currently Fred has completed two seasons already. Because of the success of the channel, Fred has appeared on certain Disney TV shows and even has a movie coming out sometime in 2010.
Not all content on YouTube is as kid friendly as Fred, however. I learned pretty quickly that Aiden should not peruse YouTube himself. The content is quite adult in nature. So I started investigating channels that were geared towards kids. This may not come as news to some, but there is a kid’s YouTube channel. It’s called ZuiTube, and it boasts that it contains the largest video collection for kids anywhere. Pretty cool. The video content is approved by parents and teachers, not totally sure what that means, but it makes me feel a bit safer. The site itself is geared towards helping kids navigate it. Combining entertainment with educational tools makes the site appealing for both kids and parents. There’s even tags where kids can assign emotional icons to videos, allowing them to express their opinions graphically.
Aiden and I tested it out last night. He especially liked the silly song and game sections. But what really sealed the deal was finding that Fred had a home in ZuiTube as well.
I haven’t decided yet if we’re going to put up an Aiden videos in the near future, so for now I’ll leave you with one of Aiden’s favorite Fred episodes: Fred Goes to the Dentist.
