Arguably, one of the best things about streaming services is the level of accessibility they give people. With so many platforms out there, it’s getting easier and easier for people to find exactly what they’re looking for when they’re ready to relax in front of a screen.
And while that may be great news for grownups, it’s making it harder for parents to monitor what their children are watching. That’s because not all content is created equal across all platforms, and some parents and caregivers don’t want their kids watching certain content, like some of the stuff that appears on YouTube.
Unfortunately, that makes Netflix’s decision to add some YouTube shows to its streaming service a big issue for parents who say they use Netflix solely to keep their kids away from this stuff.
Now, several people are taking to Threads to share their unhappiness about Netflix’s growing collection of YouTube content in an effort to get the streamer to remove it from its platform, with one parent writing, “If we wanted our kids to watch YouTube, we’d let them watch YouTube.”
Netflix Was a Hot Topic on Threads This Week
View on Threads
Anyone scrolling the parenting end of Threads this week probably caught an eyeful of disdain coming from concerned parents like user memaroonie. According to their post, they were frustrated over Netflix’s decision to show certain crossover content from YouTube on children’s profiles.
“We let them watch Netflix precisely because it is not YouTube,” they wrote in part. “You are negating a significant reason why folks choose your platform over others by polluting it with this garbage content.”
Some Parents Say It’s Hard to Keep the YouTube Content Blocked
Lots of frustrated parents filled the comments, saying they were struggling to keep the parenting controls updated to prevent them from having access to the shows they don’t want them to watch. “I cancelled Netflix because of this,” one person wrote, calling it the final straw.
“It’s a pain, but if you go through the Netflix website on a computer, you can go through and block shows on Netflix,” another person offered as a workaround. “It pisses me off how often I have to do this. I don’t want my kid watching vloggers. There is a reason I don’t do YouTube.”
Others Defended the New YouTube Content
The news wasn’t all bad for Netflix, though, since multiple people stuck up for the platform, including one person who goes by the username daintypainter. “I agree wholeheartedly. But I also missed the fact that youtubers were making Netflix shows now until after my kids had found them and started watching a couple,” they wrote, adding that the content that appears on Netflix is much different than what you would find on YouTube.
“It’s longer and less chaotic. And the algorithm seems to suggest standard Netflix shows to watch next instead of the worst possible videos on the YouTube algo. So it wasn’t as awful as I expected, but I still agree and lowkey hate it all.”
So what’s the big deal? According to an article from Loma Linda University Health, YouTube can be damaging to a child’s developing brain thanks to the way these short-format videos tend to give kids instant bursts of dopamine, training them to seek instant gratification in other aspects of their lives.
Experts also warn that too much time spent watching YouTube videos (especially shorts) can affect other things as well, including self-control, focus, and attention. And that doesn’t even get into the well-documented concerns that most pediatric professionals have about excessive screen time for children.
While parents still express their frustration online about the changes to Netflix, it’s unclear if their gripes are making it back to the people in charge of this decision, since it doesn’t sound like Netflix has addressed the complaints yet. That being said, it will be interesting to see just how big of an effect (if any) this has on Netflix viewership. Especially now that school is back in session for many, which means children may be spending less time in front of the TV anyway.