Richard Godwin, writing for the todays edition of The Times, introduced me to yet another conundrum for the digital age, the phenomenon of Unboxing: YouTube: why kids become glued to inane amateur videos. Aside from horror stories of Youtube collecting data on children in violation of online privacy legislation, unsuitable material, how algorithms determine what children are watching, it refers specifically to toy unboxing. The first unboxing video appeared in 2006 and by January 2019, the term unboxing videos yielded over 144 million results. To illustrate just how influential unboxing has become, Nickelodeon has capitalised on the popularity of Youtube and Ryan ToysReview with an unboxing series starring YouTube mega-star Ryan Kaji, called Ryan’s Mystery Playdate.
You can see the evolution of Ryan’s World, from unsophisticated product unboxing to educational videos, to a live-action series on Nick Jr.
The current trend of Toy Unboxing, in which children watch other children unpacking new toys and showing the viewer how they work and if they work, has been referred to as ‘toddler crack’ (Kollmeyer, 2015). Professors Stuart Cunningham and David Craid of the Queensland University of Technology defuse the panicked reaction to this push for consumerism in their article, Toy unboxing: It’s a thing; it’s lucrative but sensitive: research.
“Child advocates regard all unboxing, even non-branded videos, unequivocally as marketing and discount the possibility that these videos may also be instructional, educational or simply communicative, fostering peer-to-peer interactions between child creators and viewers” (Craig & Cunningham). This phenomenon is hotly debated and has implications for digital literacy practices, particularly now that children are increasingly online. One explanation for the popularity of such videos is that successful children’s media is often relatively uncomplicated and presents “a familiar context with situations that they recognise, that happen close to their own home … that feature other toddlers and preschoolers” (Valkenburg & Piotrowski, p.57). The potential educational value of the youth-produced video phenomenon and “how children’s media use can play a role in predicting their development” is discussed in, Plugged in: how media attract and affect youth.
References:
Craig, D., & Cunningham, S. (2017). Toy unboxing: living in a(n unregulated) material world. Media International Australia, 163(1), 77–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X17693700
Kollmeyer, B. (2015). Ready to be hypnotized by ‘toddler crack’? MediaWatch.com. Available at: http://www.marketwatch.com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/story/ready-to-get-hypnotized-by-toddler-crack-2015-04-07 (accessed 29 July 2016).
(2016) ‘Unboxing’ videos: co-construction of the child as cyberflâneur. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 37:3, 369-380, DOI: 10.1080/01596306.2015.1041457
Valkenburg, P. M. & Piotrowski, J. Taylor. (2017). Plugged in: how media attract and affect youth. New Haven: Yale University Press.