少年儿童教育一直是雅思大作文十分关注的热点话题,本期墨尔本文波雅思带来的热点解析就是一个与之相关的极好观点和例证——孩子应该看什么?Youtube推出Youtube Kids,由此引发了详细的讨论:
YouTube Kids app launches in UK and Ireland for child-friendly videos
Android and iOS app will feature (以…为特色)local channels including Stampy, Morph and Little Baby Bum, funded by (由…出资)‘family friendly’ (适合家庭的)advertisements.
YouTube is launching its YouTube Kids app in the UK and Ireland, nine months after its child-friendly service went live in the US . (目前只覆盖美国英国和爱尔兰)
More than 10 million American parents have downloaded the app, which serves up (准备了)a filtered (过滤了的)selection of videos and channels that are appropriate for children (适合儿童观看的).
The app also removes social featuresu(移除社交功能) like comments and the ability to upload videos; has a built-in timer to limit how long children can use it(限时功能); and blocks inappropriate search terms including “sex”(屏蔽包括sex的敏感搜索词).
The UK and Irish version of YouTube Kids emphasises local channels, including famous children’s brands like Morph, Teletubbies, Wallace & Gromit and The Magic Roundabout.
However, they sit alongside (与…一道)digital brands like nursery-rhymes channel Little Baby Bum, Minecraft gamer Stampy and app-inspired cartoon series Talking Tom and Friends.
As in the US, the app is a free download for Android and iOS devices, but will make its money from advertisements running in between the videos.(插播广告,转折解释收益来源)
That has been controversial(有争议的) in the US, with several consumer-rights organisations calling for regulator the Federal Trade Commission to investigate YouTube Kids over its use of ads.(审查广告使用)
“We only show ads that are approved as (被认证为)family-friendly – for example, we don’t show any food and beverage ads – and all ads undergo(经历)a rigorous (严格的,高分词汇)review process for compliance with (遵守符合)our policies,” a YouTube spokesperson told the Guardian.
“All ads are clearly labeled and include ad intros. Ads don’t include any click-throughs (点击链接)to websites or product purchase flows.”
Some US complaints have focused on a different issue: the question of whether some popular channels – particularly those that focus on unboxing(拆箱) toys – blur the lines (模糊了界线)between entertainment and advertising too much, even if suggestions that some of these channels are being paid by toy companies to feature their products have yet to be proven(yet地道表达,类似have not been proven yet,有待证实).
YouTube Kids has also faced questions about whether it is tracking the viewing habits of its young users. YouTube describes it as a “signed-out experience” because the app does not require a parent or child to sign in to their existing Google or YouTube account.
However, YouTube Kids does collect data on the videos watched by individual children, for a recommendations feature that suggests videos they might like based on their habits.
The app also has a feature enabling parents to “flag” videos that they think are inappropriate for children, but have avoided (逃过了)YouTube Kids’ filtering algorithms (过滤算法,专业词汇).
“We always try to make the videos available in the app family-friendly, but no system is perfect. So if you ever find a video you’re concerned about, please flag it,” wrote YouTube’s head of kids and learning partnerships Greg Dray in a blog post.
YouTube already has a huge audience of children watching videos on its service. In October, 20 of the 50 most popular YouTube channels were aimed at children, and those 20 channels generated more than 5.2bn video views that month alone.(仅一个月52亿点击率)
British channel Little Baby Bum was top of the children’s pile (一堆…中的顶部) – and the third biggest channel on YouTube overall – with 428.5m video views in October.
It has just overtaken (刚刚超过)One Direction as the most-watched British channel of all time, while its Wheels on the Bus compilation(合辑) recently dethroned(废黜,地道表达取代第一的位置) Psy’s Gangnam Style as the biggest YouTube video by watch-time(观看时长最多) (if not views).
“If you think about any child that’s aged 13 or under nowadays, more and more you’ll see they don’t watch TV,” said Little Baby Bum’s co-founder(联合创始人) Derek Holder, who launched the channel with his wife in 2011.
(这几段分析数据非常适合在雅思小作文和Describe Image里运用)
“In any kind of media industry – radio, TV or movies – there’s a filter(过滤器) of the big companies who decide ultimately what you will hear or see. YouTube removes those filters to an extent and makes it a level playing field (习语,公平竞争环境).”
Aardman is an example of a company from the traditional children’s TV world using YouTube to reach its audience in new ways, including the return of classic claymation character Morph in 2014, funded by a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. (一个典型的长句例子)
Morph will be among the featured channels for YouTube Kids in the UK and Ireland. “It’s a whole new space in which we can reach new fans,” said Alix Wiseman, Aardman’s head of sales and acquisitions.
“We’re reaching new audiences through a new platform and a new channel, with new content that we’ve been able to make, but based on an Aardman brand that was built 40 years ago. It’s brilliant that YouTube have seen this opportunity.”
YouTube Kids has also launched today in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
(澳大利亚,新西兰和加拿大也上线了,想了解的同学可以下载来看看)
更多热点解析,关注墨尔本文波雅思!