YouTube has turned 10 years old, and it’s still more popular than ever – ranking as the number 1 social network used weekly by 11-16s in our survey launched for Safer Internet Day last week.
To mark this important anniversary, we’ve put together 10 top tips to ensure you have a safe and positive time on YouTube.
- Be kind and respectful: check out this YouTube video created by Radio 1 vloggers about creating a #NicerInternet, and the #Up2Us film created by over 150 young people.
- Keep it clean: Know how to Flag content that is inappropriate. YouTube relies on its users to ensure content on the site is appropriate.
- Think about privacy: When uploading a video, think about the privacy settings and whether you want the video to be public, unlisted or private.
- Learn how to block: prevent someone from commenting on your videos or sending you messages by blocking them.
- Consider parental control tools: Learn how to enable Safety Mode to restrict access to age-inappropriate content.
- Know the rules: check out the community guidelines for YouTube and make sure you respect them. If you spot someone breaking any of the rules, flag the video.
- Don’t break the age rules: you must be at least 13 years old to create a YouTube account.
- Stay in control of your video comments: stay in control of who can post comments on your videos using comment moderation.
- Stay in control of your image: you can request the removal of videos that include your image, full name or personal information by filing a privacy complaint.
- Be creative: YouTube provides great opportunities to show your creations to the world, but make sure you’re not infringing anyone else’s copyright. If you are a young person who likes to create films, why not enter our Film Competition?
Check out YouTube’s Policy and Safety Hub for the latest advice, and for more safety tips on the most popular online services, check out www.saferinternet.org.uk/safety-tools.
