▲ eample of harmful ads

Today, people worldwide use YouTube. As the users of YouTube increase, harmful ads and videos are becoming a steady problem on the popular website.

In Korea, according to Wise App's research, people use YouTube more than other websites. These days, however, YouTube seems to have some side effects, mainly due to violent, stimulating advertisements and videos.

 One trait of YouTube is popularity. It is incredibly popular all around the world. So for advertisers, YouTube is one of the best places to advertise their products, services, or companies. However, some advertisements are too stimulating and violent to attract interest. They also might not be appropriate for all ages. Still, there is only a slight restriction on those advertisements. Because of that, controversial advertisements are still prevalent on YouTube. Children can be easily exposed to harmful advertisements, which can have bad effects on the children, so a stronger restriction of these ads needs to be enforced.

Another trait of YouTube is that views equal money. Content creators can earn money by allowing advertisements to play on their videos. The more people watch their videos, the more the creators earn. So, some creators will upload harmful, stimulating, or controversial videos to raise views. One example of this kind of content is the popular trend of slime videos. The creators will upload a video and post captions and hashtags on the video to make it seem like the video is about handling slime. However, the videos will instead be about stories of self-injury and sexual harassment. The video may get flagged by viewers or even YouTube, but it still gets views, which means the creator still gets the money.

YouTube is now a main source of information for many people, especially young generations. However, not everything that gets reported on or talked about is real. Several channels make videos of fake news, which tricks people into believing a lie. The effect of information is becoming stronger and stronger, but the validity of that information is not provided. Not many people fact-check a news video before believing its content. Because of this, YouTube can also be a source of fake news.

YouTube is a fun and free platform for millions of people worldwide. But because of these side effects, YouTube may also cause harm and violence to its viewers, so people need to consider the side effects of YouTube, and use the site carefully.