Totlol: Another Compelling Take on Kid Safe Video

I have reviewed a number of sites promising kid-safe environments, and see a lot to be excited about. But most offer some sort of take on the idea of the walled garden -- a protected place that kids must remain in.

Totlol takes a different approach, and it's one you should be aware of, whether you market to kids or have tykes yourself. The idea of Totlol is different. Basically it offers access to a plethora of video content from YouTube that has been preapproved by parents.

Here's how they pitch themselves:

Welcome to Totlol
If you have kids, you just found the site you have been looking for.

Totlol is a video website designed specifically for children. It is community moderated. It is constantly growing. It is powered by YouTube.

All videos were submitted, screened and rated by parents. The selection is huge and if you like, you can participate too.

Totlol is literally Video-on-Demand, and if you have kids, you already know. The video part is easy. It is the demand part that is hard. Are you ready? Here it comes: "Daddy, Mommy More Video!"





I really do like this idea. By using YouTube embeds and the preexisting environment of bajillions of vids on YT, you have a huge collection of content from which to select, and a proven platform to display it.

But it's not just another YouTube -- it's an environment where you and other parents can preexamine content to ensure it is appropriate for kids. Totlol uses a comprehensive content screening process to make this environment a reasonably safe environment for kids, without building that concrete security fence around the garden.

Here's how they describe their approval process:


The community moderation process has three parts: scouting, submitting and screening.

1. Scouting

When scouting parents search the YouTube database via a Totlol interface. The scouting interface lets parents search and watch videos just as they used to do on YouTube. When they find a video that they think is appropriate and relevant they can choose to submit it.

2. Submitting

When submitting parents are asked to review the title and tags associated with the video and to provide a review of the content. They are also asked to specify the main language of the video, what age group may enjoy it most and categorize it.

This information, together with the original YouTube information is presented at screening.

3. Screening

The screening part of the process is where the community plays the most significant role. Each Totlol user is invited to screen videos submitted by others and to answer screening questions. These answers are combined with various other data signals to grade each video.

Thus, any video on YouTube can theoretically appear on Totlol, it just needs to be submitted and approved. Which makes it less a walled garden and more...a hedged one.

Now, you don't need to join Totlol to view ads. You ca view to your heart's content without joining, in fact. But there is a lot more to this site than just screening. When you join you get the chance to change player sizes, and access to customizable controls to protect your kids. These Parental controls let you decide what age range of content is acceptable to you, and whether you are OK with your kids submitting thoughts and comments in the community features and areas.

Additionally, parents can prescreen vids and add them to their "collection", which can act as a sort of playlist.It also allows you to set a time limit -- this much and no more, so your kid doesn't end up a desk potato.

While researching the site I found this great post on Tech Crunch -- which informed me that this collection of thousands of videos was built by one dude.

In fact, Totlol was built by one developer in Vancouver, B.C. (Ron Ilan, father of two) entirely on the YouTube platform. It is a collection of thousands of child-appropriate video clips from YouTube, chosen by parents, and rated by toddlers.
...
For a video site built by one person, Totlol is impressive. And it shows how YouTube could give rise to hundreds of niche video sites with their own features and communities.

I love that last bit -- the idea that the video monolith could actually spawn a realm of hundreds or thousands of freestanding video sites, each skinned and organized in a relevant way. How is that different from a channel? Well, it's about focus and control. And in this case of course, protection.

In the meantime, were I a parent of a toddler I'd give this site a try. This sort of thing is critical to making the web a good developmental environment for kids.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.