Safer Internet Day: These four tips can change your YouTube experience

In honour of Safer Internet Day, the famous video platform YouTube has shared some golden advice with internet users and its viewers, telling us how to use resources more mindfully and take care of our privacy.

Who can deny the fact that the internet is an integral part of our lives now? Our personal and professional lives are incomplete without going online. Whether we have to learn something or stay in touch with our loved ones, we rely on our smart devices and internet connections to guide us. 

With that, however, comes the concern about safety. This is because the younger generation, who is born into technology, seems to understand and operate the internet better than the parents. This makes it hard for families to understand each other and challenging for parents to regulate the content children view.

That is where YouTube steps in. The site has shared four ways in which it empowers users to experience safer internet.

Here is the most recent YouTube management advice, covering anything from controls and family-friendly resources to mindfulness modifications and data privacy measures.

1. Digital well-being tools

YouTube said in its blog post that it has launched a number of tools over the past several years to help users manage their time on YouTube, such as sleep reminders, time viewed counters, and controls to customise autoplay settings, since everyone is striving to be more mindful of how we spend our time online. 

Safer Internet Day, according to YouTube, is a good reminder to check your settings and make sure they still work for you.

2. 'Review and manage your data on a regular basis'

Regularly reviewing your YouTube data provides you more control over your viewing experience and contributes to privacy protection. Through the "Your Data in YouTube" tab, YouTube makes it simple for you to view your data. An overview of your content and activity data may be found there, along with settings and controls for managing your data and details on how it is used to enhance your experience.

You can check your watch and search histories to help YouTube and other Google services provide you with more relevant recommendations. You can also peruse or remove your YouTube activity, including comments you've made on videos and channels you've subscribed to.

3. Protections for kids and tweens 

Every family has a unique connection with media and technology. 

"For parents and caregivers, we offer options to help them decide what’s best for their kids and are investing in new ways to improve these experiences," the blog post read. 

A fast tip to make YouTube operate better for families is to sign in to YouTube Kids on compatible devices. This is why:

YouTube Kids gives logged-in parents the power to tailor the experience of their children. They may create a profile with unique settings for each child, restrict or approve particular channels and videos, and even choose to share YouTube material with their kids directly through YouTube Kids.

Secondly, families with tweens who own mobile devices or desire their own accounts might benefit from a supervised YouTube experience. The support for these supervised accounts has been expanded over the past year to allow tweens to log in on gaming consoles, smart TVs, the YouTube Music app, and other devices.

"This helps us respect a parent's choice of content setting across devices in the home where their tween watches videos or listens to music."

4. 'Connect with kids about online safety'

The safety and long-term success of today's children depend on continual education because they will utilise technology for the rest of their lives. 

You may see the "Build a Safer Internet" playlist when you open the YouTube Kids app which was published today. The playlist will include songs that promote the appropriate, healthy, and safe use of technology by families. 

These movies are designed to assist parents and their families in navigating the digital world. They include kid-friendly online safety guidelines, songs, and tools to talk about responsible screen use.