What YouTubers Tell Children

Year 2023, Volume: 8 Issue: 4, 821 - 831, 27.10.2023

Özkan Sapsağlam

https://doi.org/10.24331/ijere.1262266

Abstract

Today's children are growing up in a digital world, surrounded by electronic devices and interacting with various media types and characters from a young age. When used conscientiously, technology and media can have many positive contributions to human life. However, if not used properly, they have the potential to cause serious negative consequences. Learning through observation and imitation is crucial in children's learning processes. The quality of interaction with models and the models they learn from play an important role. Today, media characters are the ones that children are closest to and interact with the most. Some children spend more time in front of screens and in media environments than they do with their parents. As a result, the content that media characters present to children and how they behave can significantly impact what children say and do. To examine the content of YouTuber videos produced for children, we conducted a qualitative research study using a case study design. We used the criterion sampling method to select study materials, which included content videos produced by 10 different YouTubers. We obtained research data using the YouTuber Video Review Form developed by the researcher. To analyze the data, we used the thematic analysis technique, a type of content analysis method. Our findings revealed that the videos contained negative verbal expressions and visual content related to violence, aggression, slang, slander, harmful habits, product advertisements, and sexuality. Additionally, we observed that YouTubers used verbal expressions that did not follow language rules, exhibited a unique form of expression, and used dialectal language.

Keywords

Child, Media, YouTube, YouTuber

References

• Arthurs, J., Drakopoulou, S., & Gandini, A. (2018). Researching YouTube. Convergence, 24(1), 3-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856517737222