Common Sense：2022年兒童YouTube視頻調查

2022

WhoIsthe“You”inYouTube?

MissedOpportunitiesinRaceand

RepresentationinChildren’sYouTubeVideos

WhoIsthe“You”inYouTube?

MissedOpportunitiesinRaceandRepresentationinChildren’sYouTubeVideos

COMMONSENSEISGRATEFULFORTHEGENEROUSSUPPORTAND

UNDERWRITINGTHATFUNDEDTHISRESEARCHREPORT:

CarnegieCorporationofNewYorkCraigNewmarkPhilanthropies

ALetterfromOurFounder

Onlinevideoviewinghasexplodedinthelastfouryearsamongkidsofallages.OurlasttwoCommonSenseCensusreportsrevealedthatfortheyoungestkids,timespentwatchingonlinevideoshas

surpassedtraditionaltelevision.Andforteens,YouTubeistheplatformtheysimplycannotlivewithout.

Atthesametime,weknowtheentertainmentindustryhasfallenshortontellingauthenticstoriesthatrepresenttheworldwelivein.MoviesandTVshowsstillfeatureamajorityofWhitefacesandfrequentlystereotypicaldepictionsofpeopleofcolor,andHollywoodandtheentertainmentindustryarestillstrugglingwithrepresentationfromBIPOCcreatorsbehindthecamera.

ThepopularityofYouTubeandotheronlinevideoplatformscreatesauniqueopportunityforuser-generatedcontenttotelldifferent,diverse,representativestories.

YouTubecouldbealeaderinchangingthestoryformillionsofkidsacrossthecountrywhodon’tseethemselvesaccuratelyrepresentedinanyofthecontenttheywatch:It’sfree,global,andmultilingual.

Butunfortunately,YouTubeismissingtheopportunity.Thisreport,conductedinpartnershipwiththeUniversityofMichigan,looksatalargesampleofvideoswatchedbykidsages0to8and9to18.Andtheanalysisrevealsthatkidsarewatchingcontentthatpresentsbiasedandstereotypicalrepresentationsofraceandethnicity.Hereareafewkeyfindings:

?InYouTubevideoswatchedbykids8andyounger,62%featurednoBIPOCcharactersatall,whileinanother10%ofvideos,BIPOCcharacterswereportrayedinshallowways.

?Whenvideoswatchedby0-to8-year-oldsfeaturedprominentBIPOCcharacters,theywere

significantlymorelikelytoincludeinterpersonalviolence(27%vs.16%),badlanguage(32%vs.13%),andmarginallyhigherdrinking,druguse,andsmoking(7%vs.2%)thanvideoswithprominentWhitecharacters.Inaddition,videosfeaturingprominentBIPOCcharactershadlowereducationalquality:Only18%carriededucationalquality,comparedtoabout30%ofthosewithWhitecharacters.

?Ethnic-racialstereotypesappearedinabout1in10videoswatchedbytweensandteens,meaningthatiftweensandteenswatched10YouTubevideosadayforayear,theymightsee300videosdepictingstereotypesofBIPOCcharacters.

?Genderstereotypeswenthandinhandwithethnic-racialstereotypesinvideoswatchedbytweensandteens.

?Teachingaboutraceandethnicitywasextremelyrare.Ofthe1,242videoswatchedbychildreninthestudy,onlytwo(0.002%)discussedraceandethnicity.

YouTubecanbeasourceofempoweringandinspiringreal-lifestoriesandrepresentationsofBIPOCcommunities,butwhilekidsandfamiliescandoalottoseekouttherightstories,YouTubecould

makethemeasiertofindbyelevatingBIPOCcreatorsandmakingYouTubeadestinationfor

representationinmedia.WeneedabetterunderstandingofhowYouTube’salgorithmisworkingwhenitcomestocontentandcreatorsofcolor—andweneedtoknowwhetheritisinadvertentlypromotingbiased,stereotypedcontentordoingenoughtoelevatethesecreators.

Inthemeantime,itremainsveryimportanttohelpparents,caregivers,andeducatorsfindtheverybestcontentonYouTubethatelevatesdiversevoices.CommonSensewillcontinuetoleadthe

chargeinensuringthatleadersattechnologyandentertainmentcompaniesareputtingkids’needsfrontandcenter.

FounderandCEOJamesP.Steyer

Credits

Authors:DéjàRollins,M.A.,DepartmentofCommunication,TheUniversityofIllinoisatUrbana-Champaign

EnricaBridgewater,B.S.,DepartmentsofCommunicationandMediaandPsychology,UniversityofMichiganTiffanyMunzer,M.D.,DepartmentofPediatrics,UniversityofMichiganMedicalSchool

HeidiM.Weeks,Ph.D.,DepartmentofNutritionalSciences,UniversityofMichiganSchoolofPublicHealthAlexandriaSchaller,B.A.,DepartmentofPediatrics,UniversityofMichiganMedicalSchool

MiaYancich,B.S.,UniversityofMichigan

WilsonGipson,UniversityofMichigan

KristinDrogos,Ph.D.,DepartmentofCommunicationandMedia,UniversityofMichiganMichaelB.Robb,Ph.D.,CommonSenseMedia

JennyS.Radesky,M.D.,DepartmentofPediatrics,UniversityofMichiganMedicalSchool

Copyeditor:JenniferRobb

Designers:AllisonRuddandDanaK.Herrick

Acknowledgments:WethankMichaelCookeforassistancewithYouTubemetadatacollection.WealsothankTravisDixon,

Ph.D.(UniversityofIllinois)andMoniqueWard,Ph.D.(UniversityofMichigan)fortheirinputduringthedevelopmentofthisreport.

Thefindings,conclusions,opinions,andrecommendationsexpressedinthismaterialaresolelytheresponsibilityoftheauthorsandarepresentedindependentofanyrelationshipCommonSenseortheUniversityofMichiganmayhavewithGoogleorYouTube.

Suggestedcitation:Rollins,D.,Bridgewater,E.,Munzer,T.,Weeks,H.M.,Schaller,A.,Yancich,M.,Gipson,W.,Drogos,K.,Robb,M.B.,&Radesky,J.S.(2022).Whoisthe“you”inYouTube?Missedopportunitiesinraceandrepresentationinchildren’sYouTubevideos,2022.SanFrancisco,CA:CommonSense.

TableofContents

Introduction 1

KeyFindings 3

Methodology 7

Results:YouTubeVideosWatchedby0-to8-Year-Olds 11

0-to8-Year-OldsResultsSummary—WhyTheseFindingsMatter 23

Results:YouTubeVideosWatchedby9-to18-Year-Olds 25

Tween/TeenResultsSummary—WhyTheseFindingsMatter 39

Conclusions 41

Recommendations 43

References 45

Introduction

YouTubeattractshoursofweeklyviewingfromchildrenyoungerthan18(Rideout&Robb,2019;Radesky,Seyfried,Weeks,etal.,2022).Itwasthenumberonedistractionforstudentsreceivingvirtuallearningin2020and2021(Radesky,2021),andgeneratednearly$20billioninadvertisingrevenuein2020(Statista,2020).Foryoungchildren(age0to8),timespentonvideo-sharingsiteslikeYouTubenowexceedstimespentwatchingtelevision(Rideout&Robb,2020).Ifforcedtochoose,teenssayYouTubeisthesitetheywouldn’twanttolivewithout(Rideoutetal.,2022).Despitetheoutsizepres-enceYouTubeplaysinchildren’sdailylives,itisnotknownwhetherchildrenareexposedtobalancedrepresentationsofethnicitiesandracesonthisplatform,whichcanbeanimpor-tantcontributortochildren’sethnic-racialdevelopment(Rogersetal.,2021).Exposuretonegativedepictionsofchil-dren’sownethnic-racialidentityunderminesmanyaspectsofwell-being,includingself-esteem,satisfactionwithone’sappearance,senseofvalueofone’sethnic-racialgroup,aca-demicperformance,andfutureaspirations,whiletheconverseistrueforpositivedepictions(Rogersetal.,2021).

BecauseYouTubeallowscontentcreatorstoself-publish,itholdsgreatpromiseforYouTuberswhoareBlack,Indigenous,andpeopleofcolor(BIPOC)totellstoriesoftheirlivedexperi-encesinamannerthatismoreequitablyproportionaltotheethnic-racialmakeupoftheUnitedStates.Ontheotherhand,ethnic-racialstereotypesmaybeusedforhumoror“engage-ment”onaplatformthatprovidesmonetary(i.e.,advertising)incentivesforchannelsthataccruemorelikes,subscribers,andcommentsformoreextremeorcontroversialcontent.Ina2020CommonSensereportanalyzingYouTubeviewinghistoriesof0-to8-year-olds(Radeskyetal.,2020),stereo-typeddepictionsofrace,gender,ability,orbodysizewerepresentin9%ofvideos,whichraisedconcernthatuser-gen-eratedcontentwasallowingquestionable,oroutrightracist,contenttobeposted.

DoesYouTube,asaplatform,helpleveltheplayingfieldfortalentedcreators,ordoesitmagnifycovertpowerimbalancesbyamplifyingparticularvoicesoverothersthroughitsalgo-rithmicfeeds?DoesYouTubeemphasizeharmfultropes

embeddedincontentconsumedbychildren,whoareinvariousstagesofethnic-racialawarenessandidentityforma-tion?AccordingtoYouTube,high-qualityvideosthatencouragepositiverepresentationsofdifferentgroupsofpeoplecanbeelevatedintheirrecommendations.Conversely,creatorswhocreatelowqualityvideosmaybedemonetized(Google,n.d.).

Todate,nopriorresearchhasexaminedYouTubecontentthroughthelensofethnic-racialdevelopment.Yetsuchanaly-sisiscriticallyneeded,giventhepopularityofthisplatformanditsabilitytoshapechildren’sexperiencesthroughsocialvalidation,viralcontent,andrecommendationfeeds.

Mediaandchildren’sethnic-racialdevelopment

Childrenlooktocuesintheirsocialenvironment,includingtheirmediaexperiences,tobuildawarenessofandknowledgeaboutethnic-racialgroups.However,anabundanceofstudieshavefoundthatmanyracialandethnicgroups(Black,Latino,Asian,andNativeAmerican/Indigenouspeople)areunder-representedintraditionalmedia(Behm-Morawitz&Ortiz,2013;Mastro,2017).Further,itisfrequentlyreportedthatwhenminoritygroupsdoshowupinTVshowsandfilms,itisusuallyinastereotypicalmanner(Dixonetal.,2019).Forexample,Blackpeopleareoverrepresentedaslazy,violent,andcriminal.Latinosareoftenhypersexualized,whileAsiansareheavilyassociatedwithmartialarts.NativeAmericans,ifdepictedatall,arefrequentlyshownasmagical,withancientwisdom.Whatremainsconstantisthedisproportionateandstereotypicalmediarepresentationsofminoritygroupsrela-tivetotheirWhitecounterparts.

Ethnic-racialrepresentationonYouTubemayhavenotabledifferencesfrommainstreammediaforseveralreasons.Forinstance,childrenexperiencewishfulidentificationwithYouTubers(e.g.,boyslookuptoYouTuberswhoarefunny,violent,andattractive;girlsidentifywiththosewhoarefunnyandpopular)(Tolbert&Drogos,2019).TheseYouTubersmayalsoresonatemorewithchildrenbecausetheyare“regularpeople”whobecameinfluencersbycreatingtheirown

?COMMONSENSEMEDIA.ALLRIGHTSRESERVED.WHOISTHE“YOU”INYOUTUBE?MISSEDOPPORTUNITIESINRACEANDREPRESENTATIONINCHILDREN’SYOUTUBEVIDEOS1

content,ascomparedwithperformersintraditionalformsofTVmediathatarescripted(Jaakkola,2020).Researchonparasocialrelationships(theconnectionchildrenfeelwiththeirfavoritecartoon,puppet,orhumanmediacharacters)showsthatchildrenaremorelikelytofollowinstructions,payattentionto,andbeinfluencedbyaparasocialrelationshipcomparedtoacharactertheydon’tknow(Richards&Calvert,2017).Therefore,YouTubersandinfluencersmaybeanimportantpartofdisseminatingpositiveornegativedepic-tionsofdifferentethnic-racialgroups.

Inallmedia,childrenmayconsciouslyorunconsciouslyseekoutcontentthatreinforcestheirsocialidentity,orreactivatesbiasesaboutethnic-racialoutgroups(Tajfel1979).However,onYouTube,personalizedrecommendationsfeaturingsimilarcontentmayreinforcestereotypedscripts(i.e.,automaticbiases)andnormalizethesestereotypesthroughsocialvali-dation(e.g.,likesandshares).ThesimplefactthatYouTuberecommendsavideoalsoactsassocialvalidation,asitsug-geststhatotherviewerssimilartothechildwatchedthevideo,regardlessofanyquestionablemessagesitmaycontain.Asitcurrentlystands,YouTube’srecommendationalgorithmhasthepowertogreatlyassistintheprosocialorantisocialidentityformationoftoday’syoungpeople,inparallelfilterbubblesthatmayhindercollaborativethinking.

Therefore,thegoalsofthisreportaretodescribetheethnic-racialrepresentationofcharactersinYouTubevideosviewedbyyoungchildrenandtweens/teens,andtoanalyzethepor-trayalofBIPOCcharactersintermsofcharacterprominence,qualityofinterracialinteractionsandpowerdynamics,pres-enceofstereotypes,andassociationswithothertypesofnegativecontent(e.g,violence,genderstereotypes).

Toachievethesegoals,CommonSenseMediaandtheUniversityofMichigananalyzedYouTubevideoswatchedby114youngchil-dren(age0to8),collectedMarchthroughApril2020,andby140tween/teens(age9to18),collectedJunethroughJuly2021.ParentsorchildrenprovidedalistofthelastvideosthechildrenhadwatchedonthemainYouTubesite,whichwerecodedforeth-nic-racialrepresentation(1,242videosintotal).RecommendationsforYouTubedesignandpolicyareincluded.Furtherdetailsareincludedinthemethodologysection.

2WHOISTHE“YOU”INYOUTUBE?MISSEDOPPORTUNITIESINRACEANDREPRESENTATIONINCHILDREN’SYOUTUBEVIDEOS?COMMONSENSEMEDIA.ALLRIGHTSRESERVED.

KeyFindings

1.YouTubevideosviewedbychildrendonotreflecttheethnicdiversityof

youngchildren,tweens,andteens

acrosstheUnitedStates.

Childrenage0to8watchedalotof“colorblind”cartoons,inwhichanimatedcharactershadnoclearethnicity-race(e.g.,hadnonnaturalskinorfurtonessuchasblue;27%ofthevideosample),orvideosfeaturingonlyWhitedollsorvideogameavatars(52%ofvideoswithonlydolls/avatars).Invideoswatchedby0-to8-year-olds,only38%ofvideoshadanyBIPOCindividuals,butthemajorityofindividualsdepictedwereWhite(average70%),followedbyBlack(6%),multiracial(6%),Latino(5%),andEastAsian(5%).RepresentationofMiddleEastern/NorthAfrican,NativeAmerican/AlaskaNative,andNativeHawaiian/PacificIslander(alllessthan1%)wasextremelylimited.Inparticular,thegreatestdiscrepan-ciesbetweentheU.S.CensusandYouTuberepresentationoccurredamongBlack,Latino,andmultiracialgroups(FigureA).

Among9-to18-year-olds,althoughmorevideoscontainedanyBIPOCindividuals(61%),themajorityofindividualswerestilloverwhelminglyWhite(67%),followedbyBlack(11%),multiracial(5%),Latino(5%),andEastAsian(4%).MiddleEastern/NorthAfrican,SouthAsian,SoutheastAsian,NativeAmerican/AlaskaNative,andNativeHawaiian/PacificIslanderindividualswereextremelyunderrepresented(alllessthanorequalto1%).ThegreatestdiscrepanciesbetweentheU.S.CensusandYouTuberepresentationforthetween/teensampleoccurredamongLatinoandmultiracialgroups(seeFigureA).

FIGUREA.RacialandethnicdiversityofYouTubevideos,

byagegroup,comparedtothe2020U.S.Census

White

70%

67%

64%

Asian*

9%

5%

6%

Black

6%

11%12%

Latino

5%

5%

17%

MiddleEastern

1%

1%

?

NativeHawaiian

1%

0%

0%

NativeAmerican

0%

0%

1%

Characterswatchedby:

?0-to8-yearolds?9-to18-yearolds

?2020U.S.Census

Multiracial

6%

5%

9%

*Asianincludes:EastAsian,SouthAsian,andSoutheastAsian,asthesecategories

werenotassessedindependentlyinthe2020U.S.Census.

?MiddleEasternracewasnotassessedinthe2020U.S.Census;thereforethisnumberisnotincluded.

?COMMONSENSEMEDIA.ALLRIGHTSRESERVED.WHOISTHE“YOU”INYOUTUBE?MISSEDOPPORTUNITIESINRACEANDREPRESENTATIONINCHILDREN’SYOUTUBEVIDEOS3

2.Invideoswatchedbyyoung

children,portrayalsofBIPOC

charactersaredisproportionately

negativewhencomparedto

Whitecharacters.

Overall,22%ofvideosinthe0–8sampleand35%ofvideosinthetween/teensamplehadBIPOCcharacterswithapromi-nentrole.However,invideoswatchedby0-to8-year-olds,videoswithprominentBIPOCcharactersweresignificantlymorelikelytoincludeinterpersonalviolence(e.g.,bullying,meanness,pranks;27%comparedto16%ofvideoswithprominentWhitecharacters),badlanguage(32%vs.13%),andmarginallyhigherdrinking/drugs/smoking(7%vs.2%).Inaddition,videosfeaturingprominentBIPOCcharactershadlowereducationalquality(18%comparedto30%ofvideoswithprominentWhitecharacters).Whentheyappearedinavideo,Whiteindividualsweremorelikelytobeportrayedinapositivemanner(78%)comparedtoBIPOCindividuals(65%).Thesetypesofnegativedepictionscouldhinderchildren’spositiveethnic-racialdevelopment,evenfrominfancy.

Invideoswatchedbytweensandteens,theoppositewastrue:AlowerproportionofvideoswithprominentBIPOCcharac-ters(18%)containedviolencecomparedtothosewithoutprominentBIPOCcharacters(25%).Thisdiscrepancymaybeexplainedbythefactthat“Let’sPlay”gamingvideoscontainedthehighestamountofviolence,andwereoverwhelminglyWhitemaleYouTubersinthetween/teensample.

3.Invideoswatchedby0-to

8-year-olds,BIPOCcharacter

portrayalswereshallowormissingalmostthree-quartersofthetime.

ShallowportrayalsofBIPOCcharactersoccurredin10%ofvideos,and62%ofvideosdidnotincludeanyBIPOCcharac-tersatall.Forexample,nurseryrhymevideosoftenhaveoneBIPOCchildasa“token”backgroundcharacterinanefforttodepictdiversity,butthereisnodevelopmentofthechild’sstoryoridentity.Only29%ofvideoshadBIPOCcharactersthatwereconsideredfullydevelopedornuanced.Shalloworabsentportrayalsweremuchmorecommonthanstereotypesinearlychildhoodviewing.

4.Fortweensandteens,ethnic-racialstereotypes,includingusing

inappropriateaccents,sayingtheN-word,orjokeswithethnic-racialthemes,appearedinabout1in10videos,onaverage.

WhenwelookedattheYouTubeviewinghistoriesoftweens/teens,anaverageof9%ofvideoscontainedstereotypes.Thismeansthatifatween/teenwatches10YouTubevideosaday,everydayforayear,theymightseeover300videosdepictingethnic-racialstereotypesinthattime.ExamplesincludevideogamersactingviolentlytowardBlackorMiddleEasternchar-acters,vloggersorTikTokcreatorsmakingjokesaboutLatinoindividuals,oroccasionaldepictionsofcharactersthatapproximatedblackface.Stereotypicalportrayalsweremuchmorecommonthanshallowportrayalsfortweensandteens.

5.Videoscontainingethnic-racialstereotypeshadlowerviewershipcomparedtovideoswithout

stereotypes.

Videoswithethnic-racialstereotypeshadlowerviewcount(median734,822)thanvideoswithoutethnic-racialstereo-types(median1,290,331).Thissuggeststhatitmaybeincontentcreators’bestintereststokeepbiasandracismoutoftheirvideos.

6.Genderstereotypespervadedvideosviewedbytweensandteensandtendedtooccurinvideosthatalsohadethnic-racialstereotypes.

Videosthathadethnic-racialstereotypesweresignificantlymorelikelytoalsocontaingenderstereotypes(55%)com-paredtothosewithoutethnic-racialstereotypes(18%)invideoswatchedbytweensandteens.Examplesincludedhypersexualizeddepictionsoffemalecharactersinmusicvideos,bodyshamingandteasinginvlogs,andjokesabout“typicaljealousboyfriend/girlfriend”inTikTokcompilations.Onaverage,1in5videoswatchedbyourparticipantsshowedgenderstereotypes(21%).

4WHOISTHE“YOU”INYOUTUBE?MISSEDOPPORTUNITIESINRACEANDREPRESENTATIONINCHILDREN’SYOUTUBEVIDEOS?COMMONSENSEMEDIA.ALLRIGHTSRESERVED.

7.Teachingaboutraceandethnicitywasextremelyrare;ofthe1,242videoswatchedbychildreninthestudy,

onlytwo(0.002%)discussedrace

andethnicity.

AlthoughYouTuberepresentsaplatformwherepeoplecantelltheirstoriesandhelpothersdevelopinsightintodiversebackgrounds,codersonlyfoundtwovideosfromtheentiresampleof1,242thatdiscussedraceandethnicity.Thesevideosweretwodifferentcookingshows,inwhichraceandethnicitywerediscussedinthecontextoffoodconsumedbydifferentcultures.

8.Althoughtweensandteenswatchedvideoswithcharactersthatreflected

theirownethnic-racialidentity,thiswasnotthecasefor0-to8-year-olds.

Invideoswatchedbybothageranges,Whitecharacterswerethemostprominent.Amongchildrenage0to8,BIPOCchil-dren’svideoshadanaverageof69%Whitecharacters,whichwassimilartothevideosviewedbyWhitechildren(66%,seeFigureB).TweensandteensofcolorwatchedvideoswithpredominantlyWhitecharacters,butwerealsomorelikelytowatchcontentwithcharactersfromtheirownethnic-racialgroup(FigureC).Forexample,WhiteteenswatchedvideoswiththehighestaverageproportionofWhitecharacters(77%),whileBlackteensviewedthehighestaveragepropor-tionofBlackcharacters(33%),andLatinoteensviewedthehighestproportionofLatinocharacters(13%).ThispatternsuggeststhatYouTubecouldactasasourceofpositiverepre-sentationforyoungpeoplewhoareseekingmessagesandentertainmentthatalignswiththeirethnic-racialidentity.

FIGUREB.Ethnic-racialrepresentationinYouTubevideosviewedbychildrenage0to8

White

64%

71%

66%

71%

Black

12%

4%

7%

2%

EastAsian

2%

6%

8%

7%

Latino

2%

6%

5%

1%

Ethnicity-raceofviewer:

?Black

?Latino

?White

?Other

FIGUREC.Ethnic-racialrepresentationinYouTubevideosviewedbychildrenage9to18

White

52%

60%

77%

64%

Black

33%

8%

8%

3%

EastAsian

0%

5%

2%

15%

Latino

1%

13%

2%

0%

Ethnicity-raceofviewer:

?Black

?Latino

?White

?Other

?COMMONSENSEMEDIA.ALLRIGHTSRESERVED.WHOISTHE“YOU”INYOUTUBE?MISSEDOPPORTUNITIESINRACEANDREPRESENTATIONINCHILDREN’SYOUTUBEVIDEOS5

potentialspotforphoto

Methodology

Studydesignandparticipants

Thisanalysisusedtwodatasetscollectedfromyoungchildren(0-to8-year-olds,collectedinMarchandApril2020aspartof

TheCommonSenseCensus:MediaUseByKidsAgeZerotoEight

)andtweens/teens(9-to18-year-olds,collectedinJuneandJuly2021aspartof

TheCommonSenseCensus:MediaUseby

TweensandTeens

).Forbothstudies,participantswereinvitedtotakepartinafollow-upYouTubesurveyandwereeligibletoparticipateiftheywatchedYouTubeatleastonceaweekonYouTube’smainplatform(notYouTubeKids).Afterprovidingelectronicinformedconsent,participantswereshowninstruc-tionsonhowtocopyandpastethe15mostrecentvideostheyhadviewedonYouTubeintoanelectronicsurveyform.

Foreachdataset,wecreatedasampleofequalnumbersofWhiteandBIPOCchildparticipantswhohadcodablevideos,matchedascloselyaspossiblebyage,gender,andsociode-mographiccharacteristics(e.g.,parenteducation,income).ThepurposeofcreatingmatcheddatasetswastoprovideincreasedstatisticalpowerfordetectingdifferencesintheYouTubeviewinghabitsofchildrenfromdifferentethnic-racialbackgrounds,whilereducingcoderburden.Forthe0-to8-year-olds,parentethnicity-racewasusedasaproxyforchildethnicity-race.Table1onpage8showsparticipantandvideocharacteristics;althoughdurationof0to8andtween/teenvideosweresimilar,videosinthe0to8samplehadaccruedmoreviewsatthetimeofcoding.

Contentcoding

Forbothstudies,wewatchedandcodedfivevideosperchild,excludinganyvideosthatwerenolongeravailableorwerenotcodableduetodepictingonlyinanimateobjects(e.g.,cars/trainswithnovisiblehumans),petswithnohumans/ownersevervisible,orcalmingsounds/images(e.g.,thunderstorms).Movietrailers,whichwererare,werealsoexcludedfromanalysisduetotheirrapidpacingandmultiplecharacters,whichwerenotfeasibletocode.Inthe0to8sample,weincludedvideosthatdepictednonhumanoidcartooncharac-ters(e.g.,monsters,animals,MickeyMouse)orhumanoidcharacterswithnonhumanskintones(e.g.,brightyellowin

Legovideos)becausetheymadeupaconsiderableproportionofyoungchildren’sviewinghistory.These“colorblind”videoswererareinthetween/teensample,soweexcludedthemfromcodinginthatsample.Wedeterminedthatasampleoffivevideosperchildcapturedthechild’susualviewinghabitsthroughpreliminaryworkinwhichwewatched10to15videosperchild(n=20children),whichshowedthatchildren’sviewinghistoriesusuallydidnotvaryandstayedwithinthesamegenreofvideos(e.g.,gamingvideos,vlogs).

Metadata.For0-to-8videos,metadataabouttitle,duration,viewcount,anddatepostedwascollectedin2020usingPython[

https://github.com/hdnl/youtube-metadata-

scrape

].Foralltween/teenvideos,metadataabouttitle,duration,viewcount,dateposted,andnumberoflikesanddislikeswascollectedusingPython[

https://github.com/

michaelcooke/youtube-scraper

].

Developingtheracialrepresentationcodingscheme.Thecodingschemesforthe0to8andtween/teensamplesvariedfromeachotherslightlyduetothetypesofvideosineachsampleandinsightsgainedfromthefirstroundofcoding(0to8sample)thatinformedthetween/teenapproach.Aninitialcodingschemewasdraftedbyseniorauthors(TM,JR)basedonareviewofexistingliteratureonracialrepresentationsinmedia(Aladéetal.,2020;Alperetal.,2016;Dixonetal.,2019;Gray,1995;Hamlen&Imbesi,2020;Mastro&Greenberg,2000;McClain&Mares,2020;Williamsetal.,2009).Thiscodingschemewasiterativelyrevisedbasedonapplyingittoasampleofvideos,inputfromtheCommonSenseMediaexpertpanel,andinputfromacodingteamfromadiverserangeofbackgrounds(Black,SoutheastAsian,EastAsian,White)anddisciplines(communicationandmediastudies,pediatrics,psychology).Becausecontentdifferedbetweenthe0to8sampleandthetween/teensample,thecodingschemesalsodifferedtomoreadequatelycapturethecontentviewedbythesetwosamples.

Toimprovevalidityofthecodingprocessandpreventassump-tionsabouttheethnicorracialbackgroundofindividualsappearinginYouTubevideos,codersusedastandardized

?COMMONSENSEMEDIA.ALLRIGHTSRESERVED.WHOISTHE“YOU”INYOUTUBE?MISSEDOPPORTUNITIESINRACEANDREPRESENTATIONINCHILDREN’SYOUTUBEVIDEOS7

TABLE1.Characteristicsofchildrenin0to8andtween/teensamplesandcodedvideos

0to8sample

Tween/teensample

Sociodemographiccharacteristics

n=114

n=140

Childagerange(0to8//tween/teen)

n

Percentage

n

Percentage

?0to2years//9to12years

26

22.8%

55

39.3%

?3to5years//13to15years

44

38.6%

42

30.0%

?6to8years//16to18years

44

38.6%

43

30.7%

Chi