Family Tech Blog

Tag: device safety

  • “Ninja” Moves Gaming Stream to MIXER and Twitch Shows Porn on His Channel

    “Ninja” Moves Gaming Stream to MIXER and Twitch Shows Porn on His Channel

    Ninja (Tyler Blevins) switched his streaming content over to Microsoft run “Mixer” on August 1st and has been migrating his viewers over to the service over the past couple of weeks. He took to Twitter to express his disgust over the fact that Twitch was running ads for other streamers on his channel’s landing page. The disgust didn’t stop there though, somehow a channel that was showing hardcore pornography was featured on Ninja’s page and this made him understandably upset. Again, Ninja posted about his frustration on Twitter and the CEO of Twitch was quick to apologize.

    There is a lot of discussion in the gaming and streaming world about who owns the channels that streamers use to broadcast and who should be able to decide what is aired on the channel when the streamer isn’t live. Obviously, this affects you, as a parent in several different ways. First of all, your kids are likely going to be watching Ninja over on Mixer now. Secondly, you need to know that pornography can show up on these live streaming services very easily. You also should be aware of the money and politics currently involved in the video game streaming industry. It’s a major business now, and your kids are the target consumer.

    What is Mixer?

    Mixer started out as “Beam,” a streaming platform that claimed to offer a better service and higher quality streaming ability that competitor Twitch. In 2016 Beam was purchased by Microsoft and in 2017 Beam was rebranded as Mixer. The service still works to compete against Twitch but claims to offer a better ad share program to gamers as well as a better viewing experience for fans. The service has already made a few deals with pro-gaming leagues and now has acquired Ninja as an exclusive streamer on their platform. Just like Twitch, Mixer offers multiple types of streams including video gaming, tabletop gaming, vloggers, IRL (in real life), podcasts and more.

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    Since being purchased by Microsoft, Mixer is now available on Xbox, and on Chromecast and other streaming devices. It is becoming more and more popular and Ninja’s exclusive contract will guarantee even more growth. Twitch is suffering the same fate that many market leaders share. It can be difficult to balance making the kind of profit that a company that size needs to operate and keeping the same charm that your service had when it gained all of the popularity that you profit from. It seems that there is room in the video game live-streaming market for another service.

    What Parents Should Know

    Video game streaming and esports are some of the fastest growing forms of entertainment ever. Advertisers are jumping on board and monetizing every minute your kids spend watching other people play video games. When you think about it, the video itself is a form of product placement for the game they are playing. When advertisers get involved, things often get messy. Content creators get tired of their media being turned into a way for someone else to make money. This makes them go look for a better deal. This is what has happened with Ninja.

    You need to be aware that when people broadcast on live-streaming services there is usually a live chat going at the same time. Your kids can be in contact with strangers from all over the world. Also, it is very difficult to keep inappropriate content off of live streaming channels due to the fact that is being broadcasted in near real time. You should know what your kids enjoy watching on Mixer, Twitch, YouTube Live, and any other live-streaming platforms they watch. Know that many gamers use adult language and discuss adult topics on their streams. Most of the time those apps are rated 17+ because of the potential for adult content. Keep that in mind when deciding what you allow your child to watch online.

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  • The Hooked App is as Addictive as it Sounds

    The Hooked App is as Addictive as it Sounds

    We all want our kids to read more so an app that claims to have had users reading for over 500,000 hours sounds like a godsend. It is, in fact, a great idea and a pretty original way to get it’s users to read. The Hooked app isn’t new, having launched in 2014, but it’s rating number 6 in the iOS app store today. It’s popularity is growing fast.

    Hooked is an app that tells stories in the form of text messaging conversations. The story topics include comedy, horror, fantasy, and sci fi. Each story has a title page photo, many of which feature a pretty girl or couple in a romantic or suggestive pose. When you’ve made your choice the story unfolds one text message at a time, usually in the form of a conversation between a couple of people. You can tap the screen to reveal the next message and you may find yourself in a tapping frenzy to reach the next plot twist. Then, however, you’ll suddenly be halted by the Hooked Owl asking you to pay for more “Hoots.” A “Hoot” is a click/tap and you only have a certain amount of them every hour. Once you’ve used them up you’ll be prompted to buy more or sign up for a weekly or monthly subscription to get unlimited “Hoots.” If you’re like me and not ready to invest fiscally in finding out the next line of the story you can just wait until the next hour begins.

    The Hooked app cashes in on the obvious popularity of texting by using it as a storytelling venue. This makes it very appealing to the younger aged adults and teenagers. The target audience for the Hooked app is ages 13-24 but I wouldn’t just look over the app if I saw it on my teen’s phone.

    What Parents Should Know

    The Hooked app consists of some very mature themed stories but is targeting younger teens.  The stories are delivered in a way that your teens and tweens will definitely find appealing. I found myself anxious to find read the next message as the story progressed. Obviously the story really started to climax right before I ran out of “Hoots” so I would have to wait a while to continue reading. While this did get me to close the app for a while, the $7.99 per month for unlimited “Hoots” is a low price tag for being able to sit all day long and click through these stories.

    My issue isn’t really with the way the stories are delivered, it’s actually a creative way to tell these tales. The “one post at a time” method lends itself to a lot of suspense and a pretty entertaining read. The problem I have is the addictive nature of this app, if you can tap an unlimited number of times and go from story to story you’d very easily find yourself reading through a hundred of these stories in just a few days. Also, these stories can be pretty mature, dramatic, and suspenseful. The categories feature love and thriller options and the stories get quite intense at times. The texting storytelling method also makes them a bit more eerie. Users can also write stories which makes for a completely new potential problem there. Any time you’re dealing with User Generated Content it’s hard to be sure what your kids may read.

    My advice is to know your child and their maturity level well before you let them use Hooked. I wouldn’t go by the 9+ rating it has in the app store, I would assume your child should be a bit older. Keep in mind that many of these stories are written by users of the app. Since the content can’t be guaranteed to be safe for any age group, you should help your teen or tween by involving yourself in their decision to use Hooked. If they do read on the app, I recommend asking them what the stories are about and what they like about them. Keep yourself in the loop and informed as much as possible.