{"id":11674,"date":"2019-03-12T16:08:31","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T16:08:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/?p=11674"},"modified":"2019-03-12T16:08:57","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T16:08:57","slug":"should-brands-be-advertising-on-youtube","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/should-brands-be-advertising-on-youtube","title":{"rendered":"Should brands be advertising on YouTube?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The YouTube comment section has always had a bit of a Wild West reputation. Unless content creators take the time to manage their communities, the comment section can quickly turn into a toxic mess.<\/span><\/p>\n

The problem: paedophiles have been using YouTube\u2019s systems to exploit children<\/b><\/p>\n

Paedophiles have been using YouTube comments to sexualise children.<\/span><\/p>\n

Commenters can timestamp videos to call people\u2019s attention directly to an interesting part of the video, such as a line of dialogue or scene that they want to discuss. Other viewers can click on a hyperlinked timestamp and get straight to that part of the video.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paedophiles are <\/span>using this function<\/span><\/a> to highlight parts (or freeze frames) of innocent videos where children are caught in suggestive poses or can be seen wearing revealing clothing. They may then go on to discuss the child in graphic detail or leave predatory comments. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

YouTube\u2019s recommendation system then acts a way for paedophiles to discover other videos that feature similar content (and feature children or teens that they can victimise in the same way).<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, a parent may have decided to vlog about their family life and post videos of shopping with their kids, the family on vacation and things like the kids and dogs playing in their pool. Paedophiles then scan these videos for content that they can sexualise. Because they watched, liked and commented on the video, they then get recommended similar videos, and the problem spreads.<\/span><\/p>\n

When <\/span>The Verge<\/span><\/a> tried to replicate the problem, it found that \u201cit took six clicks or less to find videos with predatory comments in the comment section.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The response: YouTube acts after advertisers start to leave the platform<\/b><\/p>\n

Disney, <\/span>Nestl\u00e9<\/b> \u00a0and Epic Games (the makers of Fortnite) quickly <\/span>pulled their advertising<\/span><\/a> from YouTube after the revelations.<\/span><\/p>\n

YouTube responded<\/span><\/a> with a strong statement, calling the reported behaviour \u201cabhorrent\u201d and promising to do more to catch abuse more quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Around a week later, <\/span>YouTube published a blog<\/span><\/a> post addressing the changes it was making, which included:<\/span><\/p>\n