I plan for my research paper to focus on video-sharing websites, specifically Youtube, and how it has affected American culture today. My goal is to focus more on how Youtube had impacted the development of kids and teenagers and also how it has weaved its way into society for not only entertainment but also educational purposes. Parents will play Youtube kids for their growing children while teenagers and young adults may rely on Youtube for funny videos, news, and even educational videos to study. How has Youtube become so prevalent to today’s culture and are its effects negatively impacting society, specifically pertaining to mental health and and the development of children.

Some cons to Youtube would be how it’s impacting the development of children and starting their attachment and dependency to technology at a young age. From personal experience, my young niece loves Youtube kids. When she’s on her iPad she enjoys listening to mostly kid songs that are being played on Youtube and other educational videos. Although this can be a bonus, it also creates a strong attachment to technology at an early age which can possibly affect brain development in children.

Youtube also plays a large role in the lives of young adults. As a website where videos are free to watch and post, anything and everything can get loaded onto Youtube. The idea of “fake news” is easily spread through websites such as these and things also become easily misinterpreted. Youtube has changed the way that people access the news and how they internalize certain things. Youtube can also be damaging to mental health, especially if an individual is someone who is a content creator on Youtube. Like any other social media platforms, people are free to leave comments and share their opinion. Being exposed to this type of negativity can severely affect one’s mental health and view of social platforms.

A source I plan on using in my project is already on the preliminary biography pre-approved list: Burgess, Jean, and Joshua Green. Youtube: Online Video and Participatory Culture. Digital Media and Society Series. Cambridge; Malden, MA: Polity, 2009. Another source that has not been approved yet but I found on through Copley Library is Yadav, Savita, et al. “Children Aged 6-24 Months like to Watch YouTube Videos but Could Not Learn Anything from Them.” Acta Paediatrica, vol. 107, no. 8, Aug. 2018, pp. 1461–1466.