The Dual Role of Creators and Parents: Lizzy Capri Talks Digital Content Safety
The digital age frontier has become a ubiquitous part of our daily lives, with platforms like YouTube and TikTok playing a crucial role in shaping the minds of young audiences worldwide. This era of unprecedented connectivity and accessibility offers plenty of opportunities for learning and entertainment, serving as a virtual playground for young, curious minds.
But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows and mesmerizing content. The digital space isn’t without pitfalls. The same platforms that inspire creativity can also expose young users to content that may not be suitable for their age or maturity level. This double-edged reality has raised concerns about the virtual safety of young audiences, with questions regarding parental control and, at times, certain forms of censorship making their way into this discourse.
Lizzy Capri, once a beloved YouTube star with over 7 million subscribers, has long partaken in this narrative. She’d started her online journey with whimsical pranks, exciting adventures, and engaging DIY projects, quickly garnering the love and attention of millions. However, as her audience grew and evolved – so did Lizzy. Caught in the relentless pursuit of feeding the YouTube algorithm, she found herself engrossed in a never-ending cycle of data analysis and metrics optimization. This made her realize that her content quickly became overshadowed by the need to satisfy algorithmic criteria. In this process, she lost sight of the true meaning of her content, creating material that was more about feeding the algorithm rather than self-expression and connection. It was only upon stepping back that she realized the content she was producing no longer represented who she was or what she stood for. This moment of clarity revealed how far she had strayed from her original passion, leading her to question the path she had taken.
“I felt the need to redefine myself and rediscover who I truly am,” Lizzy reminisces. “Forcing myself to continue to make content that fed this algorithm and play games kids would find fun ended up exhausting me.”
And so – Lizzy pivoted. In a bold move, she redirected her focus on mature content, working tirelessly toward her brand-new goals. Despite the quick success she achieved for the second time, though, a troubling question lingered in the air: what about the children and teenagers who’d impatiently waited for hers or the content of other creators who shifted toward different content?
Lizzy brings a unique perspective here. She believes that creators have a significant role to play in ensuring that their content is suitable for their target audience. “We cannot ignore the fact that our content reaches a wide range of viewers, many of whom are young and impressionable,” she says. “It’s our responsibility to carefully curate the content so that it’s appropriate for those who are meant to enjoy it.”
As a veteran in the digital space, Lizzy has gotten to know most of the available platforms inside and out. This is why she voices some displeasure about the responsibilities that the platforms themselves must shoulder.
“Being transparent is critical. Unfortunately, some platforms and creators are quite unclear about their audience and content intentions,” Lizzy asserts. “This posed the question: Is it considered more ethical to openly inform my audience about a shift towards creating age-restricted content through a direct announcement, or is it preferable to subtly transition the content by progressively introducing more adult-oriented jokes and themes? I came to the conclusion that transparency and direct communication about changes in content respects my audience’s right to choose what they consume. It fosters a trustful relationship, even though it might initially result in some audience loss.”
In line with these concerns, Lizzy isn’t afraid of offering some criticism, as well. Despite Coppa regulations, she points out that many platforms tend to favor profit over everything else. They provide a platform for creators to make money but don’t offer clear answers about what content is actually intended for children.
This is where the parents’ role comes into play. With the ever-growing influx of content, it’s more important than ever for parents to be proactive and aware of what their children are consuming online. Lizzy suggests that parents need to take an active role in monitoring their children’s digital consumption and help them understand the videos and pictures they engage with.
“The creator market is extremely saturated at the moment; however, with so many people trying to join this space, many start off because they went viral for a specific niche or content type and have to stay in that niche for sustainability. But the enjoyment in making the same type of content over and over fades, leading them to lose interest, burn out, and pivot, just like it’d happened to me,” Lizzy says. “I believe it’s essential for parents to diligently oversee their children’s viewing habits. Given that even large platforms like YouTube often prioritize financial gain over the audience’s wellbeing, it’s unrealistic to assume that individual creators will always prioritize ethical considerations over creative expression in their content.”
With the ebbs and flows of the digital age, content creation is poised for further evolution. As an increasing number of individuals dream of their own slice of virtual stardom, the responsibility to ensure that young audiences have access to safe and appropriate content only becomes a shared effort between their parents, the creators, and ultimately – the platforms themselves.
As Lizzy reiterates, “It’s a team effort. We should all share this responsibility and remain transparent about our content intentions. Only then will we bring about some meaningful change.”
