In searching for YouTube clips of certain kids’ TV shows, I’ve come across a great many videos of babies and toddlers in front of the TV. Babies in bouncy seats giggling to Baby Einstein videos, toddlers grooving to the music on Yo Gabba Gabba — many of these videos have hundreds or even thousands of views on YouTube.
I am fascinated by this. And kind of appalled. A YouTube search of “baby watching tv” tonight turned up 1,500 videos.
What motivates a parent to post video of their child WATCHING TV? Is that the most interesting thing their child has done? Really?
If so, I have two words for these parents: GO OUTSIDE. Seriously, there’s a whole other world out there.
Do these people get a big reaction from the grandparents when they post these? “Oh, we just loved seeing the video of little Timmy watching Sesame Street. We’re so glad you could share what he’s been up to these days!” Is watching TV a milestone to be recorded like the first feeding of solid foods? Or the first time riding a bike?
Maybe these parents are hoping for their children to be “discovered” and perhaps earn a spot on a kid’s TV show. Do they think they have the next Nathaniel?
Many of these videos seem to be screaming “watch me!” judging from the number of tags added to them (making them easier to find via a search). I hesitate to post one here, because I’d rather not feed that monster, but this is a shining example.
It has numerous tags (cute, baby, toddler, infant, kids, child, children, asian, chinese, vietnamese, bumble chair, einstein), and it’s had more than 13,000 views! Either this child has a few obsessive relatives who can’t get enough of this 43-second clip, or this video has gotten some major exposure. Why? How? What are these parents trying to achieve here?
Can anyone enlighten me?
Cross-posted at Huxtabled.
September 26, 2007 at 11:35 pm
OY! I can’t even click to watch the video, because I don’t want to give them one more view. Ugh. Just the spot photo there is creepy.
but videos of kids bouncing around to music are MUCH cuter. right?
September 27, 2007 at 1:43 am
Huh. That’s something I’ve never done. We do have about twelve hours of our kids sleeping in their cribs when they were babies. One of these days I’ll edit that down to, oh, about two minutes of watchable video. But I certainly wouldn’t post it to YouTube.
I can’t even imagine why it would be cute to video my kids watching TV. Sad, maybe, but not cute
September 27, 2007 at 10:21 am
There is something truly appalling about putting videos of your child watching television online, I agree. I think it’s a product of the instant fame potential, and since all parents think their child is the most beautiful/cutest/smartest kid out there, they’re hoping for a “discovery.”
I used to get really bothered (and even disgusted) by these kinds of videos … But now I’m trying to use them as an indicator of how interactive a particular program is. If a show (like “Yo Gabba Gabba,” for instance) can elicit such a response as dancing around and reacting to what DJ Lance says to do … now that’s great interactive television.
As a children’s television researcher, I often go out in the field to measure children’s comprehension and engagement with media materials … So in a very unscientific way, these videos can provide a little insight for me.
As disturbing as the principle of it all is…
September 27, 2007 at 12:29 pm
It’s got to be the music. A little Pacabel’s Cannon or some Jesu Joy turns your average joe into a blithering obsessed idiot.
In fact, that might be worth an experiment. Get some entirely pointless videos and see if I can’t achieve great views on youtube based entirely on the background music. Like maybe a baby in one of those swing chairs set to American Pie, or a dog sleeping to the tune of mozart’s Requiem. See if I can sell profundity where none exists.
September 27, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Yeah – well what about this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH0roXEerrw
September 28, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Jim,
You must have taken 30 minutes out of your day to make that clip. Too funny.
Perhaps there are a 13,000 former Pink Floyd out there who prefer to eat a few mushrooms and watch babies watching tv.
September 29, 2007 at 5:34 pm
Funny thing, my kids really love to watch videos of adults watching TV. My son was so taken with the video of Jim that I had to grab the camera and capture him…It is so CUTE! Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d2uQM45U8I
The video caught my daughter’s attention and she was really taken with it. She spent about 30 minutes just watching Jake watching Jim. I know, it’s kind of meta but again SO CUTE! I just had to get a camera and put that video up on the Interweb as well! Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLst72v3IzA
I don’t know what it is about those Jim videos, but the kids sure love ‘em….
September 29, 2007 at 6:25 pm
I thought my kid would really like watching a video of another kid watching another kid watch a video of some old guy watch a video of a baby watching tv. I was mistaken.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUGJ0sm3Ydk
September 30, 2007 at 2:22 am
Well, let’s wrap this up–a quick video of me watching Mrs. Davis’ kid be bored by the Internet (+ my kids + jim + some babies).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr8B_f44FyY
For the record, I’m listening to Fountains of Wayne which totally rocks. I’m thinking it might be OK for the kids…
Finally (?), a meta post on the meta posting meta:
http://jimbernard.net/2007/09/30/523/
December 4, 2007 at 2:40 am
I know this is a little late, and I came across your blog by searching for something else but I’m reading through it anyway, since you seem to have an interesting outlook on things. Also to qualify things I don’t have any kids but do interact with them almost every day (unless I have a day off work).
There have been studies done that show that the baby einstein videos overstimulate children when they are young, and as their brains develop they are expecting that same amount of stimulation but they are capable of taking more in with advanced development within their noggins, so they end up having problems such as ADD or ADHT, I’m not saying that if you show your baby one of those tapes they are going to have those problems, I’m just relaying what I’ve read.