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YouTube removes video that fuels Parkland shooting conspiracy theory
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YouTube fell under fire for having videos for children that contain violent and sexual themes. Many of these videos included comments with similarly explicit material. - photo by Herb Scribner
YouTube recently removed its top trending video, which showed a conspiracy theorist alleging that the students who survived the mass shooting in Florida were paid actors, according to Bloomberg.

As CNN reported, the video focuses on student David Hogg, one of the survivors who attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 students and adults were killed last week. The video shows a clip of Hogg from last summer and calls him an actor, Bloomberg reported.

Hogg later told CNN he is not a crisis actor.

The video became the top trending video nationwide before it was removed on Wednesday. According to The New York Times, it amassed more than 200,000 views.

"This video should never have appeared in Trending. Because the video contained footage from an authoritative news source, our system misclassified it," a spokeswoman for Googles YouTube said, according to Bloomberg. "As soon as we became aware of the video, we removed it from Trending and from YouTube for violating our policies."

A simple search for David Hogg also yielded search results of more conspiracy videos. And those who watched the original video were shown related content that focused on the same subject.

As of Wednesday morning, any searches for David Hogg did not show YouTube users any conspiracy theory videos.

YouTube said it was even surprised the video caught on, according to Business Insider.

In 2017, we started rolling out changes to better surface authoritative news sources in search results, particularly around breaking news events. We've seen improvements, but in some circumstances, these changes are not working quickly enough, the company said in a statement. In addition, last year we updated the application of our harassment policy to include hoax videos that target the victims of these tragedies. Any video flagged to us that violates this policy is reviewed and then removed. We're committed to making more improvements throughout 2018 to make these tools faster, better and more useful to users

Mathew Ingram, a writer at Columbia Journalism Review, said on Twitter that the video trended so widely because of YouTubes algorithm.

"When conspiracy theories like the David Hogg crisis actor video start trending, most people think, This is bad information and should be removed," he wrote. "But YouTubes algorithm seems to think, Hey, lots of people seem to like conspiracy theories, so we should show them more."

YouTube has previously been a source of online conspiracy theories in the wake of tragedy. According to The New York Times, videos after last summers Las Vegas shooting questioned the killers motives with discredited and unproven information.

However, YouTube said at the time that it changed its search algorithm to promote more mainstream media videos over those rife with conspiracy theories and misinformation, according to USA Today. The company did not decide which news outlets would be considered legitimate or authoritative.

In December, YouTube planned to hire more reviewers to watch and point out any videos that share explicit content, according to the Deseret News. The company received heavy backlash late last year for having videos for children that contain violent and sexual themes. YouTube deleted thousands of videos in response.

YouTube said at the time that it plans to add 10,000 reviewer jobs in 2018.
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How to avoid 'sharenting' and other paparazzi parenting habits
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A recent study revealed parents often spend up to two hours staging a single photo of his or her child to post online. - photo by Amy Iverson
Before having kids, some people just dont appreciate their friends baby posts. But after having a child of their own, three fourths of new parents jump right on the parental social media bandwagon. If you have become a member of this group, there are some rules to follow for posting responsibly.

Much of a parents worry is how to teach their children to use social media responsibly. We talk with our kids about privacy, oversharing, and setting restrictions on their devices to keep them safe. But parents themselves need to look in the digital mirror once in a while. Before having children, it doesnt take as much effort to think about what to post online. Its up to us to decide what we share about our own lives. But once you become a parent, there are many questions to think about regarding what is appropriate to post about your kids on social media.

In a recent survey, kids clothing subscription company Mac and Mia surveyed 2000 new parents to find out how they are documenting their kids lives on social media, and what concerns they may have.

First of all, people without children seem to feel a bit differently about the onslaught of baby pictures online than those who are parents. 18 percent of people say before they had kids, they were annoyed by their friends baby posts. But after having children of their own, 73 percent admit they post progress pictures of their little ones every single month.

Not only are new parents letting the world know each time their baby is a month older, but they are posting about their kids every few days or so. Men and women report they post 6-7 times per month about their baby.

And while 70 percent of new parents say the benefit of using social media is how easy it is to help family and friends feel involved, there are some downsides. Here are a few tips to avoid the pitfall of becoming paparazzi parents.

Dont miss the moment

In the Mac and Mia survey, some parents admitted to spending up to two hours to get the perfect shot of their baby. That seems a little extreme. New and old parents alike should be careful about spending so much time taking pictures and videos that they dont enjoy the moment. Years ago, I decided to never live an experience through my phone. A study by Linda Henkel, a psychology professor at Fairfield University in Connecticut, found that when people took pictures of objects in an art museum, they didnt remember the objects as well as if they simply observed them.

This photo-taking impairment effect can happen to parents as well. If we are so consumed by getting the perfect photo, we can miss out on the moment all together, and our memory of it will suffer.

Dont forget about privacy

60 percent of couples say they have discussed rules and boundaries for posting their babys photos, according to the Mac and Mia survey. Even so, men are 34 percent more likely to publish baby posts on public accounts. If parents are concerned about their childrens privacy, keeping photos off of public accounts is a given.

In the Washington Post, Stacey Steinberg, a legal skills professor at the University of Florida, and Bahareh Keith, a Portland pediatrician, wrote that sharing too much information about kids online puts them at risk. They write that all that sharenting can make it easier for data thieves to target out kids for identity theft. Check that your privacy settings are where they should be and never share identifying information like full names and birth dates.

Dont be paparazzi parents

36 percent of parents say they take issue when their childs photo is posted online by someone else. Responsible social media users will always ask permission before posting a photo of another child. But parents should also think about whether their own children will take issue with their own posted photos a few years down the road.

When parents are constantly snapping pictures and throwing them on social media, it can be easy to forget to pause and make sure the post is appropriate. I always use the billboard example with my kids. I ask them to picture whatever they are posting going up on a billboard in our neighborhood. If they are okay with that, then their post is probably fine. Parents should ask themselves this same question when posting about their children. But they should also ask themselves if their child would be OK with this post on a billboard in 15 years. If it would cause embarrassment or humiliation, it might be best to keep it private.

Once children reach an appropriate age, parents should include them in the process of deciding what pictures are OK to post. Researchers at the University of Michigan surveyed 10- to 17-year-olds and found children believe their parents should ask permission more than parents think they should. The kids in the survey said sharing happy family moments, or accomplishments in sports, school and hobbies is fine. But when the post is negative (like when a child is disciplined) or embarrassing (think naked baby pictures or messy hair), kids say to keep it off social media.
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