On YouTube there are more than a few prominent video-makers there that have run into the problem of having videos pulled (or accounts outright banned) due to them not being family friendly.
Personally I think the term family friendly is fairly easy to figure out, however when it comes to YouTube the lines are blurred as it appears to be dependent on whether the producer is a company with deep pockets or an individual.
Want an example? This is what’s considered to be family friendly on YouTube:
The Big Question: Is the above truly family friendly or not? (Feel free to weigh in your opinion with a comment.)
Even though this is no more offensive than, say, watching a female volleyball team compete on television, the video was specifically posted to attract a male audience. It is blatantly obvious that sex is what sells this video more than anything else. And yes, I do mean sell; there are embedded advertisements when watching it on the YouTube site.
While it’s true the video is not necessarily offensive, it does get dangerously close to what’s considered family friendly and what isn’t.
Also, the video was posted by Playboy, a well known adult magazine publication. And we all know they have very deep pockets.
I’m not an advocate of censorship, but I am an advocate of spelling things out in very plain English.
YouTube has two major sections you should read up on concerning user-submitted content, that being Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. However neither gives YouTube’s definition of what they think family friendly means.
In television advertising, the definition of what family friendly means is explained in great detail. And if your content does not conform to that standard, it is not aired, period. YouTube is trying to be a new form of television, so shouldn’t they follow the same rigid standard or at least define what family friendly is?
What do you think?
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