YouTube stops constantly recommending content to teenage users

YouTube is rolling out new protections that could help prevent teen users from going down “rabbit holes” filled with harmful content, CNN reports. (A rabbit hole is when you’re trying to find something, like the answer to a problem, but end up finding something completely different.)

James Beser, director of product management for YouTube Kids and Youth, said in a blog post on Nov. 2 that the platform plans to limit repeated content recommendations for videos on certain topics, including content that idealizes body weight.

Beser said the change came from YouTube’s Advisory Board of teen health experts, and from the realization that certain types of content “may be harmless if viewed in one video, but may be problematic for some teens if viewed repeatedly.”

YouTube's change to its recommendation system for teen users is part of a broader update to the platform's youth safety efforts, including the introduction of "take a break" reminders and more prominent information about crisis resources.

Social media platforms are facing increasing scrutiny over their impact on the mental health of users, especially young people.

In 2021, lawmakers called out Instagram and YouTube for promoting accounts that depicted weight loss and “extreme” diets to young users.

Earlier this year, YouTube rolled out changes to its eating disorder content policy, adding bans on certain types of videos on the topic and restricting others to only adult users.

YouTube has also updated its handling of misinformation about health issues like vaccines and abortion in recent years.

YouTube says videos in the following “categories” will not be recommended repeatedly to teen users: Content that compares body features and idealizes some over others, idealizes physical fitness or body weight, or displays social aggression… and threats.

“The higher frequency of content that idealizes unhealthy norms or behaviors may reinforce potentially problematic messages, and those messages may influence how some teens see themselves,” said Allison Briscoe-Smith, a clinician, researcher, and member of YouTube’s Family and Youth Advisory Committee.

As with many social media policies, the challenge is often not in making new rules but in enforcing them. YouTube said the proposed limits will take effect in the US on Wednesday [next week] and in other countries next year.

YouTube’s “wind down” and “bedtime” reminders, introduced in 2018 and turned on by default for teen users, will now appear as “full-screen controls” on both YouTube Shorts and long-form videos.

Reminders will default to popping up every hour for teen users, although the frequency of “reminders” can be adjusted by parents.

YouTube is also making crisis resource panels — including contact information for suicide helplines, for example — full-screen when users search for topics “related to suicide, self-harm and eating disorders,” Beser said.

This resource panel will be displayed to users of all ages and will also include suggestions for more active search terms, such as“self-compassion”(rough translation: "love yourself" or“grouding exercises”(“the foundation exercises.”)

YouTube said the platform is also rolling out guidance for parents and teens on how to create content online safely.