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Comment by mozumder | Hacker News Reader

I don't think people understand how widespread YouTube viewing is for kids.

The Psy "Gangnam Style" video is the most popular video on the site because kids watch it over and over again. (If you ever wondered why it was so popular.. that's why) Same reason why that Disney collector is the most viewed YouTube user.

Kids love YouTube.

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My son was a YouTube viewer before he could talk. He is now 2 1/2, and every day he spends 20-30 minutes watching videos. Occasionally more (esp. when his parents are sick.) Sometimes he follows a video stream. Other times he asks us to put specific genres up for viewing.

He will unquestionably be able to type on the iPad long before he can actually write.

It is very much going to change the next generation.

My 4yo nephew will watch youtube vids of tractors until he falls asleep. He can't write and can only read a few words, but he will put characters into the search field and choose the suggestions he recognizes.

I saw a 3~4yo on an airplane once playing on an iPad (some infinite runner game). He would try to buy everything in the store after each round, probably because he couldn't tell how many coins he had or needed. Most of the time the dialog to pay real money for coins came up, and he would close it.

It was just weird to watch him do that so much.

I'm not sure it's so different from the worn VHS tapes played over and over in our childhoods. Although it's definitely subject to much less parental review.

It's all my niece and nephew watch (9 and 11). Clips of Minecraft and parodies of Frozen.

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