There are plenty of good reasons why someone would want to start their own YouTube channel. However, most people who want to start recording don’t take the time to sit down and think about the risks of doing so.
It is safe to start a YouTube channel. YouTube defends the privacy and data of content creators, so most people face no danger from making a channel. However, as with any activity, there are some dangers involved including risking personal information and having to avoid haters.
Here’s a look at what makes YouTube safe and what some of the risks are in using this video platform.
YouTube: A Double-edged Sword
With every year that goes by, YouTubers make more and more money from their videos. Because there are more than 2 billion users of YouTube worldwide, there is an audience for every kind of video made. And with this huge audience and the opportunity to make some real money from it, it’s no surprise that more and more people are wanting to start their own channel.
Yet, while there are many opportunities to YouTube creators to share their content and ideas and have positive interaction with their viewers, YouTube also has the potential to be a toxic environment. People so often are quick to leave horrible comments under the guise of an online, anonymous profile, or will take advantage of a creator by abusing their privacy in stealing passwords, financial information, or personal information.
To combat this potential risk, YouTube has set up a very secure Privacy Policy in hopes to protect its users.
What YouTube Does to Protect Its Users
YouTube’s Privacy Policy is covered by one of the most protected businesses and sites in the world—Google. This means that they protect your comment history, search history, watch history, created videos, etc. If you ever feel your privacy has been violated, you can file a report and YouTube will be more than willing to help you with this situation.
Google also suggests keeping your account more secure by doing the following steps:
- Do a Security Checkup
- Update your software
- Use unique, strong passwords
- Remove apps and browser extensions you don’t need
- Protect against suspicious messages and content
By taking every precaution when it comes to your security on YouTube, you can better ensure your privacy and make YouTube more of an enjoyable experience. Despite YouTube’s efforts though, they can’t help with every safety issue. Luckily, there’s a lot you can do to stay safe on your end, as long as you are careful of what you mention and what you show.
Safety on YouTube
YouTube is a safe place to make content and to share your passions. You can generally preserve your anonymity even in a channel by making a separate account for YouTube. YouTube’s privacy policy exists to protect both viewers and content creators, so you can trust that you won’t take on too much risk by making a YouTube channel.
Though YouTube has systems in place to protect your privacy, you should still do your part to keep yourself safe. If it is important to you that you stay anonymous while making YouTube content, you can safely do so by not appearing on camera, masking your voice, and not showing any video clips of where you live.
Unfortunately, there are people on YouTube with malicious intent that could potentially discover your identity and where you live by seeing your videos and drawing conclusions. Especially for people that show videos of them traveling or videos of their house, there can be some risk of having your identity discovered. Though the odds of someone wanting to invade your privacy are low, you can always take steps to make your YouTubing experience safer.
Keeping Your Personal Life Private
If privacy is your main concern and if you want to stay anonymous on YouTube, don’t share anything about your personal life. Watch your videos before you post them, looking for any clues that might let viewers guess who you are or where you live. Never give away information on travel plans. When making your setting for the video and what will be shown in the background, make sure it’s nothing that will give away where you live or how viewers can track you down.
When sharing stories about friends, family, or coworkers, don’t disclose their names, faces, or locations. Doing so not only can be a potential risk by being connected back to you, but it can also be a risk to themselves. If you do decide to use faces or names (or even have them appear on your channel), get permission first, and respect their wishes if they refuse you.
Another thing that you should watch out for in your videos is giving away information that you didn’t intend to. While preparing your videos, make sure that there is nothing in the video that you don’t want to be shown. One of the most common mistakes that can be made is taking video while you are entering a password on your computer. Be vigilant to avoid giving anything away that you don’t want to.
Another risk of making a YouTube channel is that some members of communities can be toxic and destructive. On YouTube, people who try to tear down channels and people are generally referred to as “haters” and they can be a real problem for some people. Haters use mean comments and insults to demoralize content creators. While these people probably can’t do any real harm to you, it can be difficult to push through their negative comments. If you’re feeling that a particular hater is stepping out of line, you can either block their comment, hold it for review, or report it.
Safe, but Stay Smart
All in all, YouTube is a safe place to make a channel. There is a lot that you can do to avoid unwanted attention and to keep your identity secure. As long as you stay smart and attentive to anything that might give yourself away, you can find YouTube to be a protected space to share your creative content and ideas. As long as you are aware of the potential dangers and vigilant in keeping your privacy, you should be able to have fun exploring whatever it is that you want to make videos about.
