Kid-friendly YouTube videos have uneven representation of BIPOC characters. According to a study from Common Sense Media and C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan, which surveyed 254 kids, tweens, and teens about their YouTube-watching habits, 62% of YouTube videos watched by kids under the age of 8 contain no BIPOC characters at all—and characters of color who are featured are often depicted in stereotypical ways. Videos that included BIPOC characters were 11% more likely to feature bullying or meanness, 19% were more likely to feature bad language, and 5% were more likely to feature drinking, drugs, or smoking. However, even though some kids are being exposed to “racial and ethnic caricatures,” those videos aren’t performing as well. But while some experts feel like YouTube is “missing the opportunity” to represent BIPOC identities in kids’ content, the company has been working to promote more BIPOC voices on YouTube kids in the last year with shows like Super Sema. YPulse’s Representation in Action trend research found that more than half of Millennial parents have had their child watch a TV show / movie because it featured an underrepresented group they wanted them to learn more about. (Tubefilter)
