
6-year-old made $11M in one year reviewing toys on YouTube - jaoued
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/12/11/6-year-old-made-11-million-in-one-year-reviewing-toys-on-you-tube/
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ejcx
I think this is a really weird situation.

This 6year old did not make $11M. His parents did. His parents edit the
videos, maintain high production value, market the channel, make a constant
stream of videos starring Ryan.

It's a pretty weird situation. It is kind of insane how much money his parents
are raking in because of this

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archildress
I mean, if the headline was "6 year old's Parents Made $11m in One Year", I
feel like you could post the comment:

"The parents did not make $11m. The kid did. The kid is on the screen, the kid
plays with the toys, and is willing to continue appearing on camera."

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betenoire
Kids will play with toys all day long, whether or not anyone is paying
attention.

The effort, and thus the payoff, was on the parts of the parents, no?

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archildress
I don't mean to over-intellectualize, but here's an interesting question:

Which is more of a commodity, a specific child that other kids would enjoy
watching play, or someone to edit videos and plan content?

I would say that you can hire out editing in a lot of cases or even video
planning, but some people are just more magnetic than others.

It's a somewhat uncomfortable truth but some kids are more... endearing than
others? That is to say, there are some channels with kids that other kids
would quickly bore with.

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em3rgent0rdr
Maybe both are right: Both the kid AND the parents deserve the money.

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betenoire
I didn't mean to suggest anyone did or did not deserve anything. It was a
question of who was making or is the product. Clearly they all deserve the
benefit from their success.

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austincheney
I so completely don't understand the mindless things people watch on YouTube.
My kid loves watching videos of people providing excited (cartoon-like)
commentary over some third party playing a video game.

It is like getting high on the suspense of something that is going to happen,
but there is never a disappointment because its so stupid and mindless it
doesn't matter if that thing never actually happens. Personally, it just seems
like mindless crap to me, and yet people get absolutely fixated on it.

~~~
mgiannopoulos
So, a bit like watching sports? :)

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austincheney
Somewhat, I guess. Sports are generally exciting when live though. None of
this stuff making money on YouTube is live. I don't really watch sports
either, unless I am attending a sporting event in person.

~~~
askafriend
I think you're heavily projecting your own value system onto the content.

The reality is that for people who enjoy that content, it _is_ exciting, and
they really do _enjoy_ watching other people play the game and talk about it.

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rayiner
I'm generally pro-giving kids technology. My five year old has figured out how
to text me respond to my texts using Siri, so we got her an iPhone. These toy-
opening videos, however, are manipulative and without social value. (I think
marketing directed at children and teenagers is categorically without social
value, but that's a fight we lost long ago.)

I don't want to start blocking content, but I'm curious whether there is any
way to purchase an advertising-free experience on Youtube that would
deprioritize such videos. Curating rather than censorship, I guess.

~~~
pen2l
Do you restrict usage per time? Like, no more than 1 hour a day?

Do you find that she wants to use the phone ALL the time? Does she take it to
school? (one more question: are you the guy who sends his kiddo to montessori
school?)

~~~
rayiner
She doesn't take it to school. She's high-energy so usually she wants to play
outside or play make-believe, so we haven't had problems with it crowding out
other activities, though we keep an eye on it. She used to go to Montessori
school. Her new school has a more traditional curriculum, though it still
emphasizes self-directed learning. (Unlike myself as a kid, she actually wants
to learn and do worksheets and whatnot.)

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frgtpsswrdlame
I wonder how much of that money comes from YouTube and how much comes from the
toy companies.

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dublinben
Why are videos / channels clearly target at children allowed to be monetized
and show advertisements?

Further, why would any parents allow their children to watch them?

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pen2l
> Further, why would any parents allow their children to watch them?

Do you have children?

This is one of those things where when you're talking about it or thinking
about it, it's common sense. Of course you're not going to let them watch TV!
Or Youtube!

But then when you have a kid who is _just_ not stopping to cry, and you happen
to be working from home this one day, and can't afford a babysitter or
daycare, and you're tired and terribly sleep-deprived, you ... just resign to
it, you give them your smartphone and off they merrily go and you're a little
bit of a headache free, for now.

~~~
jdavis703
My mother solved the TV problem easily: don't have a TV in the house. Of
course cellphones are now TVs, so that's a bit harder. But -- and I know I'll
get down votes for writing this -- you as a parent are supposed to be in
control. If I cried over something dumb like this, I'd absolutely be having a
painfully intimate moment with a ruler, belt or hand. I say this as a 27 year
old: these days parents are afraid to physically discipline their kids, and
then wonder what's wrong with their kids.

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potta_coffee
This is absolutely right, but we live in a neutered society. Parents are
absolutely worried about having the cops called on them if they strike their
children, even in a an appropriate disciplinary manner. Also we've had years
of experts telling us not to discipline our children. Result, unruly children
who become unruly adults.

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buerkle
You can discipline without resorting to violence. People do it everyday in
school, workplace, and all manners of life. I'm not sure why violent
discipline is ok when it comes to children.

~~~
rayiner
I'm not up to date on the research on corporal punishment, but isn't the
obvious distinction that adults can respond to rational incentives, and
children cannot?

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pen2l
Scientists seem to take a strong stand against corporal punishment, but I do
have to say, as an Asian dude I know _lots_ of Asian people (well really
everyone from Asia) who are brilliant (engineers, surgeons, businessmen) and
seem mentally fine and well and they were disciplined physically both at home
and school.

My pet theory is that since in school environments physical punishment was
distributed "equally", that's not as bad.

I really wonder how far back corporal punishment dates in the west, and
whether brilliant people like Einstein ever received physical punishment.

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bobjordan
I knew it had to be Ryan. We live in China and I put youtube kids along with a
vpn on my ipad. I don't feel so bad letting my kids watch it more than I would
if we were living in USA, due to the English exposure. Anyhow, within a few
weeks and my five-year old hit on his channel. Now she asks to watch him by
name and pretty much want's to start out there every time.

~~~
gbraad
Same here, in China even, but we moved on (disallowed) it, as we saw bad
behaviour developing from Ryan's acts. Especially related to wasting
things.BTW, the English spoken by the father and Ryan are very unclear and
mostly mumbled. My wife is a teacher of English, and she disliked it for this
additional reason.

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jacquesm
All I see is child labor. The reason they make so much money is because they
are able to skirt legal limits on advertising to children.

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balls187
I have a bad feeling about exposing a young child to internet fame.

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choward
Why? What's different than normal fame where you can still be talked about on
the Internet?

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balls187
Simply that internet fame is relatively new, and the effects on young children
aren't well understood.

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gbraad
Can't stand this kid. My son watches it, but we forbid it... I rather want him
to watch Axel (although not anymore as the parents talk too much and nonsense
according to him). Ryan is doing wasteful stuff, especially with food and
candy. I really rather see my kid enjoy Tom & Jerry.

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Dowwie
It's all downhill from 1st grade. Poor kid already reached his professional
peak.

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m3kw9
The parents made money, they set up the bank account under their name for
YouTube to pay to. Why would they set it up under the 4 yr old child’s name at
the beginning

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yeukhon
Can someone please provide a non-paywall version? I remember there is a site
for this...

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frgtpsswrdlame
[https://outline.com/W9FDsZ](https://outline.com/W9FDsZ)

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yeukhon
Thank you. I will bookmark this site. But can the mods consider automatically
rewrite the url to outline please?

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chmaynard
The article never offers a proof of the claim that the child earned "$11M in
one year". Did I miss something? I don't consider Forbes a reputable source.

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paxy
Source is right there in the article, linked where the claim is made.

