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Less focus on unhealthy body ideals, that’s the bottom line when YouTube changes the way the platform works for teenagers.
Social media have long been criticized for contributing to poorer mental health in those who use the platforms. Recently, Meta, which is behind Facebook and Instagram, was sued by 42 US states for having a negative impact on the mental well-being of young people.
Now YouTube announces that they are changing the way their platform works for teenagers in particular. Specifically, young people should no longer be able to repeatedly be recommended videos with “unhealthy body ideals” or “specific weight and exercise”.
How a company’s algorithms recommend further reading or viewing is a question that has been debated in a larger context, not only on Youtube and when it comes to teenagers.
Youtube also does not mention that the changes are made to avoid legal action, but points out that it is the next step in an ongoing project that the company has been working on for a long time.
The platform will also now more frequently remind logged-in teenagers to take a break from scrolling, in addition to the changed algorithms regarding “body ideal”.
The changes in Youtube’s service took place in the US in the past few days, but will “come to other countries” only after the turn of the year.
According to the report “Swedes and the Internet 2023” by the Internet Foundation, a third of Swedes use YouTube every day. Among the 00 and 10 listers, two out of three are on YouTube daily.