That’s because Herscher’s favorite way of getting tasks done on his channel Joseph’s Machines is via Rube Goldberg contraptions—machines which perform simple tasks through a series of complex chain reactions.

And while those tasks sometimes result in laptops smashing to the ground or wine glasses shattering, they’ll eventually get the intended job done.

Note: Joseph’s Machines was requested by a user of Plugged In. Do you have a YouTube channel you’d like us to review? Submit your request by sending it to letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram so we can check it out!

POSITIVE CONTENT

Herscher’s machines may not be the most sensible way of making a sandwich or turning a newspaper page, but the number of twists and turns make them impressive. His creativity in using a variety of objects is fun to watch, and it’s interesting to see how he works through making each machine do what he wants it to do.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Herscher is gay, and we see a couple of videos depicting his contraptions helping him pour a glass of wine for another man who is visiting for Valentine’s Day. They nearly kiss, but the wine gets thrown in their faces. Likewise, another machine pushes his male partner out of bed after the man hogs the bedsheets.

In one video, Herscher’s machine helps him get ready for the day, and he spends most of the video in heart-covered boxers.

As stated before, a couple videos include the use of alcohol, such as wine or whisky.

We heard a misuse of God’s name. We likewise heard Jesus’ name used inappropriately, too.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

The number of tasks involved for each one of Herscher’s machines will make a viewer wonder just how long they took to set up and get working. But beyond the entertainment factor here, because of this channel’s content issues (occasional visual allusions to homosexuality, a video showing Herscher in his boxers, drinking and a bit of profanity), many parents may not find Joseph’s Machines appropriate for their kids.

The post Joseph’s Machines appeared first on Plugged In.

On the site, artists and animators alike uploaded their drawings and games. And in 2006, Alan Becker would upload his video Animator vs. Animation, which would quickly go viral and be reposted onto YouTube.

The premise was simple: It showed us the perspective of a man using his computer as he used everything on his desktop to fight against a sentient stick figure bent on defeating him—or, more accurately, his cursor.

That video eventually became a series, and that series spawned a variety of colorful and mute stick figure characters. We met the orange stick man, originally called “The Second Coming” by Alan. And then there was the friendly quartet, The Fighting Stick Figures, made up of “Red,” “Blue,” “Green” and “Yellow.”

Sure, Alan may have started his series by fighting his creations. But these days, a lot of his animations mainly feature those aforementioned five as they enjoy many adventures (such as discovering the desktop shortcut to Minecraft, which spawns a video series of its own). They’ll also fight plenty of villains—all from the comfort of Alan’s desktop.

Note: Alan Becker was requested by a user of Plugged In. Do you have a YouTube channel you’d like us to review? Submit your request by sending it to letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram so we can check it out!

POSITIVE CONTENT

Were you to watch Alan’s whole Animator vs. Animation series, you’d be impressed by how far he’s come in his animating skill now. His most recent video, released 17 years after his first in the series, is far higher in animation quality—despite using the same general characters throughout as before. His skill may encourage viewers to stick with their own craft, showing that making progress takes time and often pays off.

And, speaking of that series, the storyline (though as of yet incomplete) includes a nice moral. His first couple of videos tell the tale of a cruel animator who likes to force his stick figures to fight to survive being deleted. Throughout the narrative, we see Alan come to befriend many of his creations. However, some of their actions end up causing more issues in future episodes, showing how bad choices, while forgiven, may still force us to deal with the consequences.

A trio of videos showcases the character Green as the videos he uploads onto YouTube bring him lots of fame and success. However, he becomes obsessed with social media followers and ends up hurting his friends. He eventually apologizes for neglecting them, and they forgive him. The short story may teach younger kids the value of not compromising for clicks or money.

A shorter series depicts Alan’s orange stick man discovering concepts in math, physics and geometry. The videos show the relationship between various mathematical ideas and, based on the response from a variety of mathematicians, they seem to be “mostly” accurate in their depictions of some very complex concepts.

And, to put a nice bow on things, these videos are quite entertaining to watch, too.

CONTENT CONCERNS

The animated stick figures inevitably get into many fights, some of which result in them “dying” (though dying often results in them spawning back into existence soon afterwards). Those violent moments don’t contain any blood or bruises, but characters do dissolve into their source code when stung by a virus, their red particles floating away on the virtual wind. A few virtual stick figures vanish from view via explosions. And action sequences typically include a lot of explosions and fistfights that send other stick figures slamming into the desktop walls.

Some character names reference religious ideas or figures: Alan names them things like “The Chosen One,” “The Dark Lord” and “The Second Coming.” When one stick figure defeats a powerful enemy, the other stick figures bow down to it. And in one video, Red gets possessed by the mythical Minecraft enemy Herobrine.

We don’t hear any language, since characters don’t speak. That said, we do see the word “crap” typed out as the name of a file in one video, and the acronyms “OMG” and “wtf” can be seen in a video, too. Additionally, we catch a glance at a fake Facebook status during one video, which reads “I give up on life. I’m not even gonna try any more.”

CHANNEL SUMMARY

It’s no secret how Alan Becker boasts thirty million subscribers, since his animations are both charming and entertaining. Who would have thought that Becker could craft a complex storyline with a handful of colorful stick figures—and invite millions of viewers to be so emotionally invested in the outcome?

There’s a lot to like about this channel. And at the end of the day, the videos are just plain fun. That said, we would note that a few of these battles can get pretty intense. And the main series branches into one stick figure man’s backstory, which includes the sudden loss of his stick figure wife. And those moments, while still relatively tame even by animated standards, may be troubling for the youngest of viewers.

All things considered, however, Alan Becker offers quite the unique and relatively content-free experience for viewers.

The post Alan Becker appeared first on Plugged In.

OK, that’s a bit misleading. To clarify, he’ll break the Styrofoam down to its basic components in order to extract styrene, a molecule making up Styrofoam. But that molecule is also similar to cinnamaldehyde, the chemical that makes cinnamon smell and taste the way it does. And once Braun’s broken the Styrofoam into its chemical components, he’ll use them to make cinnamon candy.

It’s this kind of chemistry that Braun showcases on his YouTube channels, NileRed and NileBlue.

What’s the difference between the two channels? Well, NileRed is generally more focused and formal. Braun explains his scientific process in each video, and he tackles things with the precision that a chemist strives for in a lab. NileBlue, on the other hand, might be described as his “goofy” channel. It’s where Braun has a bit more fun: videos are informal, measurements are winged, and tools are improvised.

Both channels are ultimately meant to dispel the idea that chemistry is boring and unenjoyable.

“My goal is to capture the natural beauty of chemistry in fun and interesting ways,” Braun writes in his channel description for NileRed.

And whether Braun’s turning a block of wood transparent or extracting the DNA from strawberries to see how it tastes, it’s hard not to see how chemistry just might be fun.

POSITIVE CONTENT

As stated above, Braun’s ultimate goal is to ignite an interest in chemistry for the channel’s viewers. He uses interesting experiments to counter what he sees as poor teaching of the subject in some schools; he believes that unfortunate influence has turned many young students off to the subject. And as viewers watch his videos, they’ll be taught what chemical reactions are occurring as well as why certain chemical compounds allow him to alter his projects in interesting ways.

However, a lot of what Braun does is dangerous, which he clearly warns viewers about. The chemicals he works with and produces can be toxic to humans, so he always warns people when something may be harmful. We don’t expect that most people will have the desire, capacity or equipment to replicate Braun’s experiments, but the warnings are appreciated all the same.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Braun occasionally misuses God’s name. He also sometimes says “crap.”

A couple of experiments use unsavory ingredients, such as a lubricant originally made for sexual purposes or his own urine (both are solely used for to extract components from its chemical makeup).

CHANNEL SUMMARY

My experience with chemistry was an interesting one. While I really enjoyed organic chemistry, I wasn’t very interested in the rest of it. But NileRed and NileBlue apply chemistry to real experiments to make it fun—not only to watch, but to learn, too.

Though some videos will be too advanced for a young tot, Braun’s videos may encourage teens and adults to take the science a bit more seriously. And with only a couple minor content concerns to note, NileRed and NileBlue just may exert a positive reaction from you.

The post NileRed / NileBlue appeared first on Plugged In.

For anyone who’s been out of the loop, Chrome Music Lab is a free software app developed by Google Creative Lab for music education. It teaches arpeggios, how the pitch of a note is related to the amplitude of a sound wave and more. One popular mode offered in the software is called “Song Maker,” where users can make their own custom songs with a click of a button.

That’s where Austin Baker, the elementary school teacher behind Mr. Baker the Music Maker, comes in.

Baker uses the software to show his viewers how to make melodies and backing tracks for various popular songs—from the theme song of Bluey to the songs of Taylor Swift and Metallica. And in each video, Baker builds the song up from scratch, guiding users on how to replicate his work.

Note: Mr. Baker the Music Maker was requested by a user of Plugged In. Have a YouTube channel you’d like us to review? Submit your request by sending it to letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram so we can check it out!

POSITIVE CONTENT

Baker builds each song from the ground up on Song Maker, slowly guiding viewers through the entire process. His method of teaching is very simple and easy to follow, making it easy for anyone to build the song with him.

Through practice with his videos, users may be encouraged to start making their own songs.

CONTENT CONCERNS

We didn’t hear any crude language on the channel. However, some of the songs Baker builds are from artists whose lyrics have clear content concerns, such as Eminem and Kendrick Lamar. For that matter, Metallica and Taylor Swift—mentioned above—have their fair share of issues, too.

That said, lyrics don’t come into play as Baker’s stacking the instrumental components of a given track. But the channel’s videos could easily influence some kids to seek out the artist behind the beat.

Similarly, Baker makes the theme from The Exorcist, too.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

Mr. Baker the Music Maker likely won’t run afoul of most families for the content that we actually encounter in his videos. Each one guides viewers through recreating popular songs in Google’s Chrome Music Lab.

Still, some songs include tracks with problematic lyrics. So any parent or music educator using this channel will want to ensure that it doesn’t inadvertently promote songs and artists you would otherwise avoid because of those issues.

The post Mr. Baker the Music Maker appeared first on Plugged In.

She’s got a whole host of books. She’s read thousands of them, and she doesn’t show any indication of stopping her passion.

Sometimes, Haley spends a week or two reading fantasy. Other times, she’ll read books based on a location she’s visiting. And sometimes, she asks others for recommendations and reads those suggestions. When she finishes a given book, Pham will give her honest review of it for those who may be interested in reading it as well.

Of course, that’s not all she does. When she’s not reading, Pham vlogs her adventures around the country with her friends and her husband, fellow YouTuber Ryan Trahan.

But chances are, even in those moments, she’ll probably have a book just offscreen.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Pham gives helpful and reasonable reviews of each book she reads. She explains the general plot, and she shares what she liked and disliked about the characters, the author’s writing style, the setting and more. She’ll sometimes read a quote from the book to give her audience a taste of the writing style as well. Viewers may be inspired by Pham’s example to look for books to read, too.

In her reviews, Pham warns viewers about books that contain unsavory elements. Most notably, she tries to avoid books that contain, as she puts it, “spicy” content—that is, books containing sexually explicit passages. And because many romance and fantasy books do have such content, it’s helpful to get that warning from Pham so viewers won’t be surprised by it in a given book.  

Pham is a Christian, and we occasionally see elements of her faith in her videos, including Bible reading and prayer. She often wears a visible cross necklace as well.

We also get plenty of rapid-fire commentary on what’s going on in Pham’s life at any given moment, like, say, the haircut she just got. Those personal elements likely broaden her appeal and help explain why she’s got more than 3.4 million followers.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Some of Pham’s older videos contain light language, including “t-tties” and “crap.” Likewise, God’s name is used in vain in one of those videos.

Though Pham warns about sexual content, viewers won’t always hear warnings for books that contain crude language, affairs or violence.

In one video, Pham and her then-boyfriend, Trahan, answer personal questions, one of which asks whether they’re virgins. And a self-care video contains a clip of Pham taking a bath, though nothing can be seen.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

If you’re looking for a information about a broad spectrum of books, Haley Phammay be able to help you find a new book to read. Her reviews are thoughtful. And because she reads many different genres, chances are you may find a story in which you’d be interested. While some of her older videos have a few content concerns to note, her newer videos tend to stay as clean as a freshly printed novel.

The post Haley Pham appeared first on Plugged In.

Cocreated by brothers Luke and Kevin Lerdwichagul (the former of whom also created the popular YouTube channel SMG4), GLITCH proudly presents all the animated efforts of GLITCH Productions. Right now, that includes four different stories, each of which comes with its own storyline and content concerns.

The most prominent story on the channel is The Amazing Digital Circus, an ongoing tale about a group of people who have been trapped inside digital bodies with no discernable way to escape. They’re stuck there under the unhinged guidance of AI ringmaster Caine. He hopes to run a good circus show, so he compels them to go on wacky adventures.

Most of the humans there have given up on ever escaping—save for Pomni, the newest person of the group, who still hopes to see the real world again. But still, she—and every other person—is on borrowed time, since they’ll eventually lose their sanity and “abstract,” which turns them into glitchy monsters that must be defeated.

On Aug. 23, 2024, the channel wrapped up its second-most-popular series, titled Murder Drones. In this story, humans are a space-faring race, and an interstellar parent company known as JC Jenson produces sentient worker drone robots to mine resources on a distant planet. However, the human overseers on that planet accidentally wipe themselves out when their experiments collapse the planet’s core, leaving the worker drones to do whatever their sentient minds want. That is, until a group of disassembly drones—murder drones—arrive from corporate and begin slaying all the rogue worker drones. Now, the worker drones hide in a colony behind impenetrable blast doors. But Uzi, self-described as an “edgy teen” robot, longs to fight back and reclaim their lives on the broken planet. So Uzi looks to take revenge on the humans who sent the murder drones there.

The first series on the channel was Meta Runners, which focuses on a futuristic human society that revolves around video games. The best gamers, called Meta Runners, replace their limbs with artificial ones to boost their performance. They become famous celebrities, while the worst gamers are forced to live in a society that doesn’t care for them. It’s also a society into which Tari wakes, suffering from amnesia. And it’s not long before she discovers that for whatever reason, she has a strange ability to enter into video games, letting her master them faster than anyone else. This catches the attention of an evil CEO named Lucks who wants to study her in order to profit off of her unique ability. And that ominous turn of events prompts Tari to escape and learn how she might fight back.

The final series on the channel is Sunset Paradise, which stars Meggy Spletzer. She hopes to relax at popular vacation spot Port Aurora, home to the famous Phoenix Festival. The event is sacred to the inhabitants of this tropical paradise and only occurs once a year. Fortunately for Meggy, it’s only one week away. Unfortunately for Meggy, the festival has also attracted the attention of a large number of criminals, and the local sheriff is a mere child hoping to keep his community safe. Meggy can’t just sit back and watch these criminals take over, so she and the sheriff team up to take this crime syndicate down.

POSITIVE CONTENT

The makers of GLITCH hope to provide an accessible platform and publicity for indie creators who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get their stories out there.

Indeed, the stories on the channel are impressive, and they come with many likeable characters. Some story arcs focus on helping others through difficult times, and characters put their lives on the line to protect others.

CONTENT CONCERNS

[Note: Content concerns described below are separated by each story.]

The Amazing Digital Circus was inspired by the short horror story I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, which depicts a sentient computer that tortures the remnants of humanity for eternity. The GLITCH version of this story contains creepy characters, the most notable being Caine himself. Violence is generally of the slapstick variety, though the characters seemingly do die if they abstract, as we see one person do in the first episode. The show’s third episode sends its subjects to a spooky mansion, inside which a terrifying creature is called “one of God’s angels,” and someone is possessed. We do hear other unsettling comments, such as a monster who asks, “Is it really murder if it’s delicious?” One character doesn’t remember her own gender, and some NPCs refer to Caine as “god.” Crude language is censored (apparently part of Caine attempting to program the circus as appropriate for children), and characters who try have black censor bars appear over their mouths. However, God’s name is still used in vain.

Murder Drones is arguably the most adult of the four short films. Though the main characters are robots, they’re still sentient, and we see a lot of them decapitated, shot or gutted. When they’re dispatched, the robots bleed black oil; the murder drones take pleasure in killing worker drones. We hear the unsettling screams of worker drones, paired with grim lines of dialogue such as, “Don’t feed me my entrails in front of my family.” We also see some human gore, too, as well as grotesque monsters made out of flesh. A church, pentagram and cross all come into play, too, as do eldritch creations. And the robots use words such as “a–” and “h—,” and misuse God’s name.

Meta Runners contains animated violence and explosions that can scratch up its subjects and cause them to bleed. Characters use magic while playing certain video games. The occasional sexual joke is cracked, and two lesbian characters share a kiss. Foul language includes “a–, “d–n,” “h—” and “p-ss.” God’s name is used in vain, including instances followed by “d–n.”

Sunset Paradise is more child-friendly than its counterparts. The threat of violence and death are still present, but the story’s slapstick style makes it less threatening—especially when some of its villains are sentient potatoes. Still, one potato is choked; there’s also some gunfire and explosions. Another potato gets kicked in the crotch, making another enemy utter a comment about potatoes not having critical bits.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

GLITCH just may be the newest way that indie animators can put their stories in front of millions of people. Based on the sizable fanbase behind The Amazing Digital Circus, there may be merit to that idea.

But don’t be fooled by the child-like look of that story. While wacky, it likewise contains plot points and humor better suited for adults. The other releases on the channel, to varying degrees, have similar content problems.  

The post GLITCH appeared first on Plugged In.

That’s because they might run into Marcus Veltri on the online video chatting sites. Veltri’s got a piano and perfect pitch—the ability to identify and/or produce a musical note without any reference point. And, posting his interactions on those sites onto his eponymous YouTube channel, he uses that gift to brighten strangers’ days.

When users of the sites meet him, he’ll usually ask them to give him a song they’d like to hear. Moments later (sometimes after briefly listening to the song if he’s unfamiliar with it), those same users will hear Veltri play the song on piano. If they’re lucky, he’ll help the song’s rhythm by beatboxing while he plays, too. If they’re really lucky, other musicians will join in behind Veltri, too, adding to the music with violin, trumpet or piano.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Veltri (and some fellow musicians who occasionally join him) use their skills to bring smiles to the faces of strangers. Most interactions on the channel typically end with the viewer happier than when he met them and grateful for getting to see Veltri’s talent in action.

CONTENT CONCERNS

In a couple of videos, Veltri plays the theme music for a popular pornographic website to see if people recognize it. In another video, he (and the female friend he’s swapped himself out with for the episode) encounter various men on the video chat site looking to engage in masturbation and making comments on his friend’s appearance. While we never see any critical areas, Veltri doesn’t censor hand movements. To that end, we hear references to masturbation as well as a joke about prostitution.

We hear the f-word and s-word, and while they’re usually censored, we caught a couple instances in which the f-word came through. “A–,” “b–ch,” “d–n” and “h—” were likewise uncensored, and misuses of God’s name, including “g-dd–n,” were also heard.

As for other issues, Veltri comes across the occasional person drinking, vaping or smoking. Some people claim they’re high or act intoxicated. A handful of Veltri’s videos include him and another friend playing music while wearing costumes of fictional horror villains such as Michael Myers, Pennywise or Jason Voorhees.

And, as a sidenote, we would caution users who may be interested in trying out Omegle or OmeTV, as it always connects them with strangers, some of whom use the site to find sexual gratification.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

It can be fun to watch Veltri play music he’s never heard before for strangers who are shocked to see his talent. His skillful playing is spectacular, and anyone who has played an instrument will notice just how impressive it is that he can play back songs after only a moment of preparation.

However, despite how nice gifted he is as a musician, parents won’t be as happy allowing their kids to hear the crude language or see the inappropriate sexual content in some videos on the channel. While not all of this is Veltri’s fault, as he cannot control what the strangers he meets online do, those occasional content concerns definitely hit a sour note for families.

The post Marcus Veltri appeared first on Plugged In.

At least, that’s how I imagine most other YouTubers see Ryan Kaji of the channel Ryan’s World.

The now-12-year-old boy began his YouTube career when he was 4 years old. Managed full-time by his mother, Loann Kaji, the channel’s first video was relatively simple, featuring Ryan picking out and taking a toy home from the store to build and play with. The channel, then called Ryan ToysReview, exploded in popularity not long after as Ryan played with and reviewed more toys, and it currently sits at over 37 million subscribers.

Between 2018 and 2020, Forbes revealed that Ryan’s World held the title as the highest-grossing channel each year, earning a cumulative $77.5 million dollars. And though his YouTube throne would be usurped by MrBeast in 2021, that hasn’t stopped the channel’s dominance in the genre of YouTube reviews.

Nowadays, however, you’ll have to scroll far to find Ryan’s World videos purely focused on reviewing toys. That’s because the channel chose to pivot its content to include skits, science experiments, obstacle courses and more (changes which coincided with the channel’s name update). Videos typically include Ryan’s family: his father, mother and two younger sisters.

On Aug. 16, 2024, Ryan’s World released a film titled Ryan’s World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure, which features the content creator, his family and more.

POSITIVE CONTENT

According to Loann, the channel began because of Ryan’s desire to be a content creator and his parents’ desire to support him. Based on that information, Ryan seems to enjoy filming videos and isn’t being forced to do so.

Families may enjoy watching and emulating some of the science experiments present on the channel.

According to the channel’s “about” page, most of the toys Ryan opens are donated to charity.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Truth In Advertising (TINA), a watchdog organization concerned with deceptive marketing practices, filed a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission in 2019 regarding the channel’s toy reviews, alleging that the channel failed to adequately disclose sponsored reviews and segments. In its complaint, TINA referenced a 2017 investigation into the channel by the Children’s Advertising Review Unit, which likewise “concluded that children could reasonably believe that all the Ryan ToysReview videos, including sponsored ones, were independent and unbiased unless there was a clear disclosure indicating otherwise.”

Because TINA found that most toys appearing on the channel were marketed towards children ages 5 and under, the organization voiced concerns that such an audience would be unable to recognize the difference between “marketing material and organic content, even when there is a verbal indicator that attempts to identify the marketing content.”

Regardless, the quantity of reviews may foster an unhealthy consumerism within children, many of whom may not yet be old enough to understand the value of money and who may feel inclined to associate joy with getting new stuff.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

Ryan’s World isn’t the top dog it once was, but if its feature-length movie release is anything to go by, it’s by no means out of the ring. You won’t find many Plugged In-style content concerns on this channel. After all, it’s formatted specifically for children. But just like most unboxing channels, Ryan’s World suffers parents to risk their own children begging for each-and-every toy appearing in a video.

The post Ryan’s World appeared first on Plugged In.

Accurso, who has two master’s degrees in education, began making the videos as a way to help her son. He was diagnosed with a speech delay and didn’t say his first word until he was nearly 3 years old. And when Accurso scoured the internet for shows made to encourage language development, she wasn’t able to find one that suited her needs. That’s when she decided to make the resource herself.

And she’s not alone in making these (typically hour-long) videos. More than a dozen people work to bring Accurso’s videos to life. And whether they’re playing the guitar or operating puppets, each video aims to make learning fun and accessible.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Ms Rachel’s videos strive to assist parents in early childhood development. She teaches many concepts with a cheerful smile. These concepts range from sorting emotions and recognizing animal sounds to learning numbers, colors and the alphabet. They can address homebound duties and anxieties, too. For instance, one video hopes to reassure children who are nervous of a visit to the doctor. Videos often include many songs to aid in memorization and catch attention.

While videos typically have an education lesson behind them, they’ll also have moments of pure fun for kids. For instance, in the same video in which children are taught the value of brushing their teeth, they can also dance to a song about pretending to be a train.

Visual elements likewise help in teaching. A couple of puppets often appear as zany characters who learn alongside the audience. Likewise, the YouTube cast often uses and teaches sign language as its members explain a new word, helping to associate that movement with the word (babies can often learn simple signs to help them communicate before they are able to or desire to verbally speak).

CONTENT CONCERNS

Ms Rachel exploded in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that popularity likewise brought her personal beliefs under scrutiny. Specifically, on other social accounts, the teacher has posted her support for LGBT causes. While those views aren’t vocally present on her YouTube channel, it should be noted that a team member featured in many videos identifies as transgender and nonbinary.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

Ms Rachel provides hours of educational content on her channel that parents can use to help their children grow in their language skills. And with over 10 million subscribers, it’s clear that many parents find her videos to be just what they need. Though a nonbinary cast member appears in some videos, and we disagree with some of Accurso’s personal beliefs expressed on her other social media, her YouTube channel otherwise remains relatively content free and beneficial to those willing to utilize it.

The post Ms Rachel–Toddler Learning Videos appeared first on Plugged In.

But don’t worry. Josiah Brooks, the artistic YouTuber behind Jazza, will bring you justice.

Brooks is an artist, animator and sculptor, and on Jazza, he challenges himself with a variety of tasks, such as drawing classic heroes as villains and vice versa; remaking characters as they’re actually described in the book; and swapping the art styles of two different TV shows.

And as you watch, you may learn a thing or two along the way.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Brooks challenges himself to complete many creative ideas. And a lot of Brooks’ videos may inspire viewers to flex their own creative muscles in new ways. For instance, artists can attempt many of the challenges on the channel themselves.

Jazza not only shows the process of how he creates his artwork; he also explains what he’s doing, and why it helps his depiction. Some videos are dedicated solely to providing art tutorials.

Brooks complains in a couple videos about how YouTube’s algorithm encourages creators to create videos based on sensationalism rather than authentic talent.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Some older videos provide detail on how to draw male and female bodies, and a couple videos intentionally focus on drawing or animating clothed breasts. Likewise, some designs Brooks makes aren’t appropriate for younger audiences, such as videos on drawing a succubus, a seductress and a “BDSM elf.”

Other challenges contain other potential problems. For instance, in a challenge in which Brooks switches the art styles of two different TV shows, we see Spongebob and friends depicted as meth dealers from Breaking Bad.

Though infrequent, we did hear words like “h–” and “a–,” and there was one instance of a censored f-word and s-word. God’s name is occasionally used in vain.

CHANNEL SUMMARY

Jazza entertains with unique and creative ideas that may inspire an artist to take up their pencil and draw, too. But for parents with younger children, some of the themes (and a bit of the language, too) depicted in Brooks’ drawings may be too mature for their viewing.

The post Jazza appeared first on Plugged In.