Parents fear YouTubers are bringing ‘brain rot’ to Netflix. But are kids wising up to ‘slop’?
The Guardian ·
As streamers poach viral creators to appeal to children, digital whack-a-mole has become a new kind of family challenge Exasperated dad Simon Hooper shakes his fist at the camera in a recent viral video . “We managed to get rid of YouTube in our household six months ago and the kids are finally OK with it,” he says, but Netflix is “now commissioning YouTubers to make their brain rot and putting it back in front of my kids’ faces”. The precise “brain rot” he’s referring to is the arrival of a polarising show that’s lighting up parent chats around the globe. And while Salish and Jordan Matter might be new to Netflix Kids users , the father-daughter content creators are familiar to anyone who’s spent any time on the internet. Jordan Matter, who started his YouTube career in 2017 as a photography vlogger, pivoted to family content after his energetic preteen daughter, Salish – a competitive gymnast – brought viral traction to the channel in 2019 and 2020. (Famously, his YouTube bio reads, “My daughter has taken over my channel!”) Continue reading...
As streamers poach viral creators to appeal to children, digital whack-a-mole has become a new kind of family challenge Exasperated dad Simon Hooper shakes his fist at the camera in a recent viral video . “We managed to get rid of YouTube in our household six months ago and the kids are finally OK with it,” he says, but Netflix is “now commissioning YouTubers to make their brain rot and putting it back in front of my kids’ faces”. The precise “brain rot” he’s referring to is the arrival of a polarising show that’s lighting up parent chats around the globe. And while Salish and Jordan Matter might be new to Netflix Kids users , the father-daughter content creators are familiar to anyone who’s spent any time on the internet. Jordan Matter, who started his YouTube career in 2017 as a photography vlogger, pivoted to family content after his energetic preteen daughter, Salish – a competitive gymnast – brought viral traction to the channel in 2019 and 2020. (Famously, his YouTube bio reads, “My daughter has taken over my channel!”) Continue reading...