Week 3 Discussion

In Families Matter, Takeuchi concludes that most media was originally designed for adult use and later adapted for children’s cognitive capacities. This design process becomes alarming with the trending normalcy of content streaming. Takeuchi reveals “children’s internet use is monitored or limited in 97% of homes…only 3% let their kids freely surf the web” (24). However, new media is increasingly streaming content to users rather than allowing user ownership of content. This becomes much more difficult for parents to monitor. For example, Spotify provides most millennials and adults with music. Yet, parental control is not a feature on this platform. If a child uses Spotify for their own music, there is no longer a distinct purchase that a parent can monitor but rather a one-time cost for unlimited streaming and therefore unlimited content. While Netflix has implemented a form of parent control, many other streaming media platforms do not place such regulations. Takeuchi’s commentary made me painfully aware that if we do not design software with children in mind, the new power of streaming will greatly add to the fear of “what lurks in cyberspace” (24).