So, your kid want’s to be a YouTuber
I had mixed feelings when my son asked if he could post a YouTube video of him reviewing and playing online games. One side of me was, wow this is a great learning experience for him. Other thoughts were not so positive but cautious, asking myself questions like "what happens if he gets some really bad feedback or criticism?" and "What about privacy?". All of my concerns had vanished once I found out that some are making millions ....... just kidding ;-) Below are the steps I decided to take.
Preparation
Create a Google Account for your child
Follow the steps to create a Google Account for your child.
Securing web browsing for your child (Google Chrome)
To ensure my children are less likely to come across content I'd rather them not see I follow the steps to filter explicit Google search results on home computers with SafeSearch. Some of the benefits are:
Turns on SafeSearch
Enables YouTube Restricted Mode. Enabling this setting allows you to specify that you do not want to see potentially objectionable content on YouTube.
One of the additional benefits of being under YouTube Restricted Mode is it will prevent comments from being displayed to the child for their videos. Making videos public means anyone can comment and also means there are comments which may not be best for the child to read at a young age, IMHO.
Upload videos longer than 15 minutes
You might find, especially early on, the videos turning out to be quite lengthy. I recommend keeping the videos under 10minutes long but there might be times when you reach the 15-minute limit. Verify the Google account and increase your video length limit.
Create a YouTube Channel
1.1 Create a Channel
Log in with the child’s Google account
Browse to https://www.youtube.com
Select the profile and “Your channel”
You will be prompted with "Use YouTube as...". As this is for your child I recommend not putting the child's first and last name. This is up to you and you also have the option of selecting the link "Use a business or other name". This allows you to select a generic name for the Channel
Refer to Create a new channel for more information
1.2 Add an Adult as an Owner of the channel
Select your profile and Settings
Select Account
In the section Channel managers click Add or remove manager(s)
Click MANAGE PERMISSIONS button
Select "Invite new users"Enter your email (adult) address
Choose role = Owner
The adult will then receive an email to subscribe as Owner. Accept the invitation
Setup the Channel and Produce content
You can now set up basic changes to your Channel such as creating channel art and setting up basic information regarding the channel. I was even surprised to find a YouTube Creator Academy with lessons and courses you can follow. If you happen to hit the jackpot with your channel they even have YouTube Creator Awards for those Channels that reach a particular milestone of a number of subscribers.
Do not underestimate the power of the internet and its reach, for a perfect example have a look at Gary Vaynerchuk's video How The "Backpack Kid" Became Famous | GaryVee Business Meeting. On a side note, if you find yourself in a situation where you have something that is worth looking more serious into checkout https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com for guidance and direction for producing content and the hustle game in general.
Start simple and let your child have fun and talk about things that interest him or her.
Creating videos
There are many video editing software out on the market but if you are using a Mac, the easiest is to start with Apple's iMovie. It's just a matter of exporting the video from iMovie and uploading to YoutTube. Learning iMovie is too large a topic to cover in this post, I recommend doing some learning of your own first with whats available form Apple https://support.apple.com/en-au/imovie and then breaking it down to your child. Slowly introduce more advanced techniques and with my experience, my son actually approached me with questions on, “…how do I add a heart counter-image when I point to the area here Dad?”. I have provided some recommendations below to get you started.
Ensure videos sizes are not too large
Large video means more time editing and watching paint dry as they upload. Instruct your child to do the following to ensure the video are not too large from within iMovie:
From the menu select File —> Share —> File
Quality = Low
Resolution = 720p
Embedding web cam into video’s
If your child is interested in creating videos that also include showing activities on a computer such as a game review or website there is software out there that will assist with this. As I'm using a Mac I used Open Broadcaster Software. This allows you to embed a camera into the video you are recording popular for YouTubers who play games and review them at the same time. After installing OBS I did the following once OBS is installed:
Change settings
Recording Format = mp4
Create your video
Start OBS (Black icon)
Sources —> WindowCapture
Name it <the topic you are recording>
Source —> Select FaceTime HD Camera (built In)
Position the camera in the right location of the screen where you would like your child’s face to be
Discuss with your child and Precautions
Discuss with your child what it means to have a YouTube channel and it's worth covering or revisiting child’s safety on the internet. Here are a few points to consider:
Subscribe to your child's YouTube Channel
Implement a process where you will review every video before the child uploads the video
When reviewing the video be on the lookout for things such as Child is wearing school uniform, sports uniform
Items in the background of the video that can be used to find more information about your child's or your families life (family photos)
When recording games (such as using OBS) or anything on the computer, look out for displaying your child's name or other information. For example when you create a Mac user profile the user’s name is displayed on the top right corner.
One surprising story I have (surprising because my son actually listened to me) is my eldest son (10 years) was videoing outside our front house on the street. He actually covered the street number with white paper to ensure it wasn't being shown in his video. If you can make your child aware of such things, it will make the review process a lot easier and you will have a better chance of picking up these types of things.