The Effect of Children’s Exposure to the YouTube Platform Moshaya Family Channel on Socialization of the Saudi Child Regarding Life Satisfaction

1 Introduction

Today, public diplomacy is one of the foreign policy arms of the state, but the adoption of programs and activities for public diplomacy differs from one country to another. Jill Shuker said that, to build public diplomacy, along with traditional diplomacy, it needs a deep understanding of public diplomacy and its role in state’s foreign policy. So, countries that are distinguished by broad political, economic and cultural activities need public diplomatic programs that are consistent with their external activities, which help the country communicate with the people and justify its foreign policy (Sadig 2011).

One reason for the emergence and development of public diplomacy in America is due to America’s political activity and its global leader role. Melsen recalled that after the 9.11 events, public diplomacy, without doubt, was one of the most important foreign policy tools for the United States (Friedman and Friedman 2008).

The twenty-first century witnesses many kinds of media and the most prominent one is the new media. It became a major authority that brought about a revolution in television activities (Sadig 2011).

Considering that new media is a new phenomenon, it has many definitions. A previous study summarized the concept of new media in five terms known as: The five C’s: communication, collaboration, community, creativity and convergence (Friedman and Friedman 2008).

According to Leste’s definition, the new media, in short, are a group of communication technologies that were born from the link between the computer and the traditional media, printing, photography, audio and video. In other studies, the new media is confined as dynamic, interactive media that combines sound, text and photo in one file that can be shared with others. Instead of being message recipient, the new media became a maker of news material, a true participant in the media (Alzahraa and Mofedah 2021).

New media’s uses are increased by its multiple functions. This is reflected by a group of entertainment, social and media uses, as well as dialog and discussion. It is clear that the new media became a useful force in shaping human relations and expressing the civilization and culture of society by creating a common base that gathers the opinions and beliefs of society members, so that they can express their emotions and needs. New media also enable enrichment of social ties between individuals and groups and the unification of their communications. Not to mention the technological progress, since new media have overcome all obstacles related to broadcasting times and geography (Feda 2014).

While new media has become a reality that imposes itself, they have much influence on the political, social, health, academic and educational fields. One effect of new media on Saudi society is the large flow of information, which leads to the adoption of a new system of values, customs and transactions that may be different from the teachings of traditional religion, in addition to putting major pressure on the family’s economic budget because of the success of tempting advertisements targeting women and children.

We do not overlook the emergence of new variables that move public opinion because new media have become a civilized and sometimes chaotic cultural connection that interferes with people’s paths and shapes their behavior. It is noted that these modern technologies represent constructive factors if they are targeted in a constructive manner.

When talking about effects of the new media on Saudi society, one cannot forget that the child is the cornerstone of the Saudi family and society. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a special cultural environment where young people under 15 years old dominate the largest proportion of modern technology use (Alaqel 2013).

Second, today’s children are brought up in a completely communicative environment, and multimedia is an integral part of a child’s surroundings, which affects several aspects, including academic performance, and the disintegration of the family bond. That disintegration leads to social isolation and encourages violent behavior, as children are unable to distinguish between the real world and the virtual world, in addition to forming unrealistic mental images and acquiring values that do not fit with the culture of society. This technology will not only influence linguistic development, where the phrases and terms used do not fit the local language, but also psychological risks caused by these networks such as dissatisfaction, imitation and empathy of famous personalities (Awwaj 2016).

Despite realizing the negative effects, it is difficult to prevent children from exposure to this technology, especially YouTube, which has become a reality imposed on us, as it has a number of positive effects such as acquiring new skills and learning about other cultures, and other negative effects, most notably the changes that occurred in the structure of the family, including widening the generation gap between parents and children and changing the value system of both parents and children (Hasromia and Fatemah 2018).

2 Statement of Research Problem

Children in our contemporary societies are experiencing a technological revolution, especially after the spread of desktops, laptops, various gaming devices, tablets, and smart phones, such as Galaxy, iPhone, iPod, iPad and Galaxy Tab (Hassan 2016).

Most previous studies focused on knowing the uses and gratifications achieved from exposure to new media and their impact on variables such as values, religious practices, language and identity, in addition to highlighting its impact on the socialization of school students.

One 2014 study (Emad and El-Rawas 2014) found no difference in demographic elements in terms of gender in exposure to new media and people used new media most in vacation times. As for the language factor, this study stated that the effect on the language was positive by learning new words, but in the future, it is necessary to be wary of the phenomenon of writing Arabic in English letters.

Another study showed (Mahah 2015) high rates of Internet browsing by children thus producing negative impacts on sports, family activities and reading. Children also use the Internet to achieve important gratifications such as boosting confidence, self-confirmation and imitating adults. And this study shares with the previous one no difference between males and females in the proportion of exposure.

When speaking about the uses of social media platforms in adolescence, a survey conducted in the city of Jeddah (Alaradawi 2014) stated, “Adolescents use new media platforms, especially the Facebook platform, out of entertainment.” Exposure to these means does not affect their identity much, as the results showed a high awareness of and pride in identity.

Because of the clear scarcity of media studies focusing on children, only a small number of studies shed light on the famous YouTube channels in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (such as Moshaya Family, Fayhan’s Family and Diaries of a Crazy Family) and other channels that provide informational material dedicated to children and related to daily life.

From this point of view, the current study focuses on the channel of the Moshaya Family on the YouTube platform, which was started in 2011. It is one of the first Arab channels to focus on family life, which reached more than one billion views in the period between 2015 and 2020 (Wikipedia n.d.).

The father, “Muhammad Moshaya’ al-Ghamdi,” a Saudi of British origin, presents various ideas in his channel with his four children from their mother of Moroccan-British descent, and films a variety of content such as: daily life situations, challenges, pranks, travel, and gifts, in addition to the hosting of famous YouTubers and advertisements. Accordingly, the problem of the study is to investigate the nature of children’s exposure to the Moshaya Family Channel and its impact on socialization and life satisfaction among children.

Little is known about Moshaya’s wife. It is important to note that the wife refrains from appearing in front of the camera directly, anytime she appears in the channel her face remains unseen. But rather she appears behind the scenes by designing some episodes or talking behind the camera with the father and children, or in rare scenes the mother appears in the camera from behind wearing “hijab.” Moshaya stated previously in one episode that he would wish his wife to appear on camera to share their activities and challenges. However, respecting his wife’s wish not to appear on camera he remains supportive of her decision.

3 Significance of the Study

The importance of the study stems from the fact that it examines the rapid technological changes in our time and the widespread controversy that has befallen YouTube channels and the impact that these channels have on children in terms of socialization and living satisfaction. According to recent statistics (Social Blade Website 2010), the number of subscribers to the Moshaya Family Channel reaches 14,100,000 and the view times reach 7,768,941,108.

The study is important because it focuses on the childhood period preceding adolescence, as mentally healthy children have the opportunity to survive adolescence more successfully than others (Abdulrahman 1998).

From this point of view, the importance of the current study lies in a number of points, such as examining the impact of exposure to the Moshaya Family channel on the socialization of children in Saudi Arabia. Second, the current research enriches literature concerned with what Saudi content makers produce. Third, the study serves as a warning to parents about the impact these channels have on satisfaction with the life that the Saudi child lives. Finally, the study provides educators and teachers in the education sector with the importance of raising children with media education that enables them to know the difference between real life and life in front of the cameras as presented by YouTube.

4 Objectives of the Study

The current study seeks to achieve the following objectives:

1. Monitoring the preferred content of children who are exposed to the channel of the Moshaya Family.

2. Discovering the degree of children’s awareness of digital concepts such as (Subscribe – Share – Like – Views).

3. Identifying the reservations of mothers whose children follow the content provided by the Moshaya family channel.

4. Identifying the impact of the Moshaya family channel on the upbringing of children in terms of life satisfaction.

5 Research Questions

6 Research Terms

Youtube: It is a video sharing platform, which enables the user to upload his videos to his personal YouTube channel. It provides a number of features, such as the ability to know the number of views and to comment below the video (Kavoori 2015).

Vlog (visual blogging) : It means recorded clips from the life of the person who is photographing them, and in which he writes about his daily or weekly personal life or his special occasions. It differs from the ordinary video. The ordinary video presents scientific or cultural information, and even if the vlog performs the same goal, it is directly related to the individual and his personal life, and the person who shoots these clips is called a vlogger (Alhamdi 2016).

Socialization: It is an essential process in human life in which the individual is transformed from a biological being into a social individual, so that his personality is gradually built and made able to interact according to the standards accepted in society, starting from childhood through adolescence, youth and finally old age.

And socialization derives its importance from the fact that it does not end with the end of the childhood stage, but extends to old age stage (Shawi 2017).

Media education: Media professionals carry out the media education in partnership with educators and building the individual socially and behaviorally is considered as its first goal. It works to consolidate the individual identity, preserve social values, in addition to working with educational decision-makers in different problems and fields of education (Alobaidi 2018).

7 Theoretical Framework

The study is based on the foundations of the cultivation theory laid down by West and Lynn (2010). The cultivation theory is one of the first theories used to measure the impact of the media and their cumulative effects. The theory is also characterized by moderation, as it does not overemphasize nor deemphasize the media content, but it is based on the relationships between the opinions of individuals and their media exposure habits.

The theory is related to the influence of the media on socialization, as it is based on the processes of interaction, teaching and learning that exist between individuals and the media, and the acquisition of cultures and trends that help individuals deal with and coexist with society. This theory is based on the basic assumption that individuals who are exposed to the media more intensely are more able to establish beliefs about social reality that are similar to the image presented by the media about real life compared to those who are exposed to the media less intensely.

When thinking about the impact of the media on people, the theory generates four hypotheses that must be taken into account:

1. One can watch and follow the media without prior planning.

2. Some media have brought the danger of laziness about learning and achievement, or as McLuhan called it “eye culture,” where the uneducated are allowed to be exposed to the same content as the educated.

3. Gerbner sees the importance of studying media content as a whole or as an integrated system. There is no point in studying one content in isolation from the other contents.

4. Minorities are forced to see their images in the media according to what the majority in the media perceive.

And in basing the current study on that theory, I expected that children’s exposure to the YouTube family program would affect their socialization and their level of life satisfaction.

But after developments witnessed by the mass media and the societal changes in the world, the first question remains: Have these developments changed the conditions and assumptions on which the theory of cultivation is based?

The answer to this question is that most observers and specialists in the media scene, even in the most extreme stages of electronic development that we witness now, are still studying upcoming technological developments and envisioning changes that will occur in the media, media institutions, and theories of media and communication. It is worth noting that the cultivation theory is not the only theory that faces questions about its current validity. Most mass communication theories fall into the same question and confusion, such as uses and gratification theory, social cognitive theory and agenda setting theory. And the question toward the theory remains: Has cultivation theory developed in a way that makes it suitable for understanding communication today?

In response to this, Morgan et al. (2018) say in “The Planting of Yesterday, is the New of Tomorrow,” that this is not a new challenge faced by a theory, as at its launch in the early 1980s, researchers were testing its effectiveness with a glimpse of the media development that is taking place now (which at that time was cable TV and video devices), and the extent to which these intermediate devices affected the user’s interaction or changed his behavior towards the content displayed on the TV. At that time, studies’ results confirmed that by using these technologies, the impact of cultivation was greater than before, with the absence of these intermediate devices. On the basis of studies conducted by researchers in the early 1980s, it is necessary to measure recent developments in the media as mere “delivery vehicles” for the same content, but with different means.

The same questions about the theory continue to be raised in the new millennium, where content is distributed across many media such as television, computers, tablets, mobile phones, video games and others, resulting in more fragmented audiences. This is because it is rare that all viewers are exposed to the same content, but in the midst of all these changes, cultivation theory “survives” simply because it assumes that the stories we tell or listen to contain something related to the way we think about the world. Researchers also confirm that as long as there is research, and there is a relationship between the variable of exposure to a particular content and any other variable, the theory is valid for use at different times.

Another reason to consider the cultivation applicable for a different medium is that the heart of the theory revolves around telling stories through the media, and current statistics and studies indicate that the world today follows the media more than ever before. Studies also indicate that despite the complexity in the world, telling story through the media still has the same magic, and the media will continue to tell us stories even if it is not on television at the narrow level of this word. The great diversity of media content (such as video games) and delivery devices (such as tablets) that we are witnessing now—any alternative to television—will still provide us with stories and an integrated world that everyone can see.

Speaking about the concept of storytelling, which is intrinsically linked to the cultivation theory, Gerbner, before the theory was launched, was fascinated by Hungarian life, as he lived in the pre-war period in Hungary and observed art, culture, painting and storytelling in that society so that he resolved to study folklore, where he derived the origins of the theory from the idea that popular culture was a large part of the atmosphere where we live, learn and are affected by it. After the dominance of television and the growing anxiety in societies, Gerbner turned to cultivation as the reason for the rise of television as the dominant medium affecting the masses.

Based on what were mentioned before and after about addressing various aspects of the cultural implantation theory and its development with the development of media, we can say that today’s world—an era of the digital explosion—is more related to storytelling and the dominance of the media. In this research, I shed light on the real or semi-real story telling, which has spread in our time, and it is the personal and family life of bloggers, which has become the major concern of a large segment of society, including children.

Basing the current study on cultivation theory, again, it is expected that children’s exposure to YouTube Moshaya family channel will affect their socialization and their level of life satisfaction. The theory tells us that individuals who are most exposed to the media (here a popular family channel on YouTube) are more likely to adopt beliefs that correspond to those offered by this media platform.

8 Previous Studies

Abdulwahhab’s (2015) study aimed to know the patterns of Saudi children’s use of social networking sites and the gratifications achieved from that and identify the extent of a child’s awareness of the effects and risks that accrue to him from using them. The study surveyed a purposive sample of 250 children who use social networking sites, and the study reported that 52.5% of children browse the YouTube platform more than three times a day, and the YouTube platform is the most common social networking site in which children have their own account. The study showed the diversity of children’s motives for browsing YouTube. For example, children tended to follow public figures and topics related to the arts because they found a new world far from their real life. The study looked at usage patterns as children prefer browsing YouTube when they were alone at home. The study indicated that a large percentage of children were aware of the harm caused by watching YouTube for a long time, especially delaying their homework and damaging their health. With regard to parents monitoring what their children watch, the study showed that there was parental supervision, due to the cultural and religious background of Saudi society.

Hasromia and Fatemah’s (2018) study aimed to shed light on the impact of children’s attachment to virtual life through the YouTube platform in particular, which has replaced dialog and direct communication, and thus influenced the quality of parental relationships in Algerian families. The study interviewed 80 high school students in the city of Batna. The study showed that 52% of adolescents didn’t share the content they were exposed to with their parents, due to their different interests and desire to preserve their privacy. The results also indicated that there was no parental supervision by 55%, and parents exercising parental supervision constituting 45%. The study also presented the negative results caused by excessive exposure to YouTube on the relationship of adolescents with their parents, as the results indicated that adolescents acquired bad habits such as: lack of respect between parents and children, and their resort to lying and using arguments when parents object to their frequent viewing of YouTube. This explained the desire of 70% of respondents to isolate themselves and stay away from their families, in order to watch more comfortably, away from the strict supervision and the annoyance of the parents. The study added that exposure to YouTube content would form negative thoughts and concepts about the family, which increased the desire to resort to YouTube to unload negative energy and fill the family vacuum.

Emad and El-Rawas’s (2014) study aimed to identify the negative and positive effects of new media and their impact on socialization on primary school students in terms of language, religion, identity and value system, by social workers conducting in-depth descriptive interviews with first- to fourth-grade students (sample of 270 students from nine primary schools in the Sultanate of Oman). The results of the study showed positive impacts on the religious and linguistic side, with the researchers pointing to the need to pay attention to the impacts that frequent exposure to these platforms may cause. The study also indicated the limited influence of social and cultural standards and the lack of influence of values, and suggests the possibility of negative effects appearing in the future, which in turn necessitates working to strengthen the cultural and societal orientations of the Omani child.

Westenburg’s study (2016) derived its importance from the role that YouTube celebrities have played in the lives of many teens, as previous studies have reported that teens find YouTube celebrities more realistic and closer compared to traditional celebrities such as series or movie heroes, which makes YouTube celebrities into role models. Therefore, this qualitative study aims to give an overview of the YouTube community and focuses on Dutch YouTubers and their followers through in-depth interviews with them. The study showed that YouTube bloggers have become an essential part of teens’ daily lives, so that they follow and get to know them more than with TV or movie stars. The study also reported that children in the late childhood stage from 13 to 18 years tend to imitate YouTube celebrities who are similar to them in the style of clothing, and they talk with their friends about their favorite YouTube characters, subscribe to YouTube channels, correspond with celebrities, and dream of being similarly popular and having a wide audience. YouTube celebrities added that they receive a lot of messages from their followers, most of them positive, but sometimes they receive messages containing threats and hatred, because teens think that they are anonymous on the Internet and therefore can practice wrong behaviors without being recognized by anyone. Parents often do not know about such practices, as teens tend not to share with their parents what they see on the Internet.

Pérez et al. (2018) study aimed to analyze the content of the videos published by YouTubers, which had the greatest impact on adolescents and its relationship to identity building using the descriptive approach by analyzing 22 videos, where the analysis resulted in a set of concepts related to identity building specifically self-impression, sexual identity and professional identity. The study showed that 70% of Spanish teenagers between 14 and 17 years prefer YouTube, due to the proximity of YouTubers to them, how comments allowed them to express themselves, and the opportunity to find people share similar personalities and preferences. The study praised the role of bloggers on YouTube and their positive impact on adolescents when they talked about their childhood and their failure stories and various life concepts about different stages of their lives, and giving advice that benefits viewers, which prompts adolescents to comment on them, ask them about their experiences, share their approval and stories, and express their concerns. The study demonstrated the great impact that YouTube platform celebrities made on adolescents and the privileges that the platform provided in creating a new atmosphere of interdependence that helped in developing the identity of adolescents, expressing themselves comfortably and accepting themselves during their physical and intellectual development period.

Raby et al.’s (2018) study aimed to shed light on the active, actual political participation of young people through the YouTube channel, which YouTubers direct to bring about societal change. The study used a qualitative approach to analyze content of 18 channels directed towards societal change by young Canadian bloggers. The study reported that Canadian teens and young bloggers express themselves in a rich interactive environment and talk about social and political issues to achieve affiliation and community participation, they shed light on social problems, most notably issues of justice and freedom of gender identity and other humanitarian issues, which change society’s view of adolescents and youth. Instead of accusing them of irrationality, political passivity, isolation from society and the pursuit of sabotage, it should be noted that they engage in political participation through social media. This draws focus to the positive side of YouTube by highlighting the fruitful side of the mentality of young groups, their participation in rescheduling priorities, and their contributions to bringing about societal change by transforming youthful ideas into action.

After reviewing the previous literature, it is possible to emphasize the role of social media in building families, contributing to the process of socialization and influencing family and social relationships. The lack of Arab studies in the field of new media, especially social media platforms, is also evident. The studies presented focused on the adolescent group, as the past studies did not pay attention to children and the impacts of YouTube on them. Here lies the importance of this study, which seeks to fill a research gap that was not addressed by previous studies.

9 Methodology

The survey method was used in the current study. As the program targets children, data was collected through a questionnaire distributed to mothers of Saudi children, aged 5–12 years, who watch the “Moshaya Family” channel on the YouTube platform.

10 Statistical Data Analysis

The statistical analysis program (SPSS) was used to analyze data. The degree of confidence in accepting the results of statistical tests was 95% or more at a significance level of 0.05 or less.

11 Research Results

11.2 Answering the Questions of the Study

11.2.1 Intensity of Exposure to a Moshaya Family Channel

The first section answers the research question focusing on the intensity of children’s exposure to the family channel in general and throughout the week.

11.2.1.1 How Often Does Your Child Watch the Moshaya Channel?

The data in Table 3 shows the extent to which the sample views a Moshaya Channel; children watched the channel “always” (51.2%), “sometimes” (39.1%), and “rarely” (9.8%). This result is consistent with the data shown in Table (No. 4), where the chi-square is 91.959 at a statistically significant level (p < 0.001), which means that there are significant differences the extent to which children watch the Moshaya channel reported by their mother.

Table 3:

Children’s exposure to the Moshaya Family program.

How often the children watch Moshaya program	Percentage	Count
Often	51.2	173
Sometimes	39.1	132
Rare	9.8	33
Total	100.0	338

1. χ ² = 91.959; degree of freedom: 2; significance level: <0.001.

Data in Table 4 shows the rate of children watching a family channel per week. They watched the channel “twice a week” at a rate of (33.4%), then from “three to five times a week” at a rate of (29.6%), then “on a daily basis” at (25.1%), and finally to “once a day” at a rate of (11.8%), where the chi-square value is 35.893 at a statistically significant level (p = 0.01), which means differences between the children sample in the rate of their viewing of a Moshaya family channel per week.

Table 4:

Children’s weekly exposure to the program.

How often the children watch Moshaya program during one week	Percentage	Count
Once a day	11.8	40
Twice a week	33.4	113
3–5 times a week	29.6	100
Every day	25.1	85
Total	100.0	338

1. χ ² = 35.893; degree of freedom: 3; significance level: <0.001.

The results of the current study regarding the intensity of exposure of the Saudi children to the YouTube platform, which are shown in Tables 3 and 4, are similar to a previous study (Mahah 2015). The results confirmed that Saudi children browse the YouTube platform more than three times a day and even have their own account on the platform. The study conducted in 2015 also confirmed that the YouTube platform is the most followed platform by Saudi children compared to other social media platforms.

11.2.2 The Content Presented in the Moshaya Family Channel and Its Perceived Impact on the Child, Morally and Psychologically

The following results review the content presented on Moshaya family channel and its impact on the child’s behavior, such as copying pranks and repeating common words in the channel, in addition to his evaluation of the content and its characters.

11.2.2.1 Is there a Favorite Character of Your Child?

The data show that “the whole family” is the favorite (67.8%) of the studied children, then the personality of “Iman” is second (25.1%), followed by “Youssef” in the third place (10.7%), and finally the personality of “Anas” (8.1%).

This result correlates with Westenberg’s study (Westenberg 2016), which praised YouTubers as viewers are more attracted to famous YouTubers than other celebrities such as actors, because YouTubers are more realistic for the average viewer, which makes them role models in their lifestyle, the words used, as well as the activities they do.

11.2.2.2 What are the Most Attractive Episodes to Your Child?

The graphic data (Figure 1) refers to the episodes that attract the children sample most. It was led by “pranks” (57.4%), then “travel and amusement parks” (49.4%), while “hostings” ranked last (9.8%). This shows parents’ selected options representing children’s exposure to channel episodes.

Figure 1:

The most engaging quality of content in the Moshaya Family Program.

11.2.2.3 What do You Think Your Child thinks of Pranks?

The data in Figure 2 shows what mothers think of their child’s opinion of the pranks. A high percentage (86.1%) saw it as “enjoyable,” while the percentage of those who considered it “frightening” was 9.2%, and the percentage of those who considered it “annoying” was 8.9%. Finally, those who considered it “disgusting” was 6.5%.

Figure 2:

Children’s opinion of the pranks shown in the program.

This result shown in Figure 2 shows that the majority of young followers like the pranks that appear on the channel, which explains why they repeat them in their real lives, as will be shown in Table 6. Perhaps part of their admiration for pranks is that they are replicable (and can be done more than once) and include the element of surprise and deviation from the ordinary, unlike episodes of the traditional series written by the child, which bear a sequential character that can be predicted with its developments.

11.2.2.4 Did Your Child Imitate One of the Pranks Shown in the Channel?

Table 5 data show the extent to which the child imitates one of the pranks shown in the channel. The percentage of “those who do this” reached 43.5%, and those who did it “sometimes” was 27.8%, while the percentage of those who “do not imitate these pranks” was 27.8%.

Table 5:

The extent to which children imitate the pranks shown in the channel.

The extent to which the child imitates a prank from the pranks shown in the channel	Percentage	Count
Yes	43.5	147
No	27.8	94
Sometimes	28.7	97
Total	100.0	338

1. χ ² = 15.73; degree of freedom: 2; significance level: <0.001.

This result is consistent with Table 5 data, where the chi-square value is 15.734 at a statistically significant level (p < 0.001), which means differences exist between the children sample in the extent to which they imitate one of the pranks shown in the channel.

It is worth mentioning here that the previous study on YouTube (Westenberg 2016) indicated that followers aged 13–18 imitate their favorite YouTube personalities in clothing styles. However, the nature of the channel content, which depends on pranks, as well as the age group in which the majority of the sample (5–10 years) fall, makes the child focus on repeating the same prank more than paying attention to clothes, which is a secondary matter for the child at this age stage compared to the aspects of fun, play and laughter others.

11.2.2.5 Did Your Child Repeat any of the Words Used in the Scenes Shown in the Channel?

Table 6 data indicates the extent to which the child repeats any words used in scenes shown in the channel. The largest percentage of them “do not repeat these words” (41.7%), while the percentage of “who repeat them” reached 33.1% and the percentage of those who repeat these words “sometimes” was 25.2%. This result is consistent with the data shown in the table, where the chi-square value of 20.452 is at a statistically significant level (p < 0.001), which means that there are differences between the mothers of the children sample in the extent to which they repeat any of the words used in the scenes shown in the channel.

Table 6:

The extent to which children repeat the words used in the channel.

The extent to which the child repeats any of the words that were used in the scenes shown on the channel	Percentage	Count
Yes	33.1	112
No	41.7	141
Sometimes	25.2	85
Total	100.0	338

1. χ ² = 20.45; degree of freedom: 2; significance level: <0.001.

11.2.2.6 How do You Think Your Child Understands the No on Camera Presence of the Mother in the Channel?

Figure 3 data show how the child interprets the no on camera presence of the mother according to the participants. Most children were “not interested in the subject” (53.6%), while the percentage of those who explained this within the framework of “religious reasons” was 30.8%, and the percentage of those who considered her “unable to appear because she is a mother” was 20.4%. Finally, the percentage of those who saw her as a “boring mother” was 0.9%.

Figure 3:

Participants’ perception of their child’s interpretation of no on-camera presence of the mother.

11.2.2.7 Does your child understand the following digital metrics? (Subscribe - Share - Like - Views)

Table 7 indicates the extent to which the mother report their child are aware of the following digital metrics (Subscribe – Share – Like – Views). Most children “are aware of these metrics” (59.8%), while “those who are not aware of them” was 21.6%, and the percentage of those who recognize them “sometimes” is 18.6%. Table 7 data has a chi-square value of 106.692 at a statistically significant level (p < 0.001), which means that there are differences between children in the extent to which they perceive the following digital metrics (Subscribe – Share – Like – Views).

Table 7:

Children’s perception of digital metrics.

The extent of the childs awareness of the following digital concepts (subscribe, share, like views)	Percentage	Count
Yes	59.8	202
No	21.6	73
Sometimes	18.6	63
Total	100.0	338

1. χ ² = 106.69; degree of freedom: 2; significance level: <0.001.

This result indicates the awareness of children and their awareness of YouTube terms and their dimensions, despite the young age of the children. Even though previous studies were of older YouTube followers, awareness of early YouTube has become an essential part of the daily routine of followers (Westenberg 2016), specifically from the routine the Saudi child who browses and watches YouTube more than three times a day (Mahah 2015), which includes these children’s followers among the heavy exposure according to the theory of cultivation. Also, YouTube celebrities asking followers to do an action (subscribe, share, like) and peers to do so and talk about these terms in the comments and the appearance of their icons are all contributing factors to the formation of this digital awareness of the child who follows YouTube clips.

11.2.2.7 If You Have Reservations About the Content of the “Moshaya Family” Program, Which of the Following Applies to You?

Figure 4 shows mothers’ reservations about the program. The majority of mothers (66.3%) believed that the program “incites the child to prank others,” while 50.9% mentioned that it “motivates children to purchase behavior.” They also indicated that the program “paints an unrealistic picture of the father” (40.8%), and finally “uses morally inappropriate language” (13.3%).

Figure 4:

The mother’s reservations about the content and values displayed in the channel.

11.2.3 The Effect of Exposure to the “Moshaya Family” Program on Life Satisfaction

This part of the results reviews the third research subquestion, which focuses on the impact of the Moshaya’ channel on the children’s living satisfaction in terms of their comparison with the characters’ possessions, and expressions of desire to go to the places that appear in the program’s episodes.

11.2.3.1 Has Your Child Shown You a Hint or a Statement that He Wants to Live a Life Similar to that of the Moshaya Family?

Table 8 data show the extent to which the children show a hint or a statement that they want to live a life similar to the life of Moshaya’s family. The percentage of “those who show this” reached was 29.6%, and those who show it “sometimes” reached 23.7%, while the percentage of “those who do not show it” was the highest at 46.7%.

Table 8:

The extent to which the child expresses his desire to adopt a life similar to the channel.

The extent to which the child shows a hint or a statement that he wants to live a life similar to that of the Moshaya family	Percentage	Count
Yes	29.6	100
No	46.7	158
Sometimes	23.7	80
Total	100.0	338

1. χ ² = 29.136; degree of freedom: 2; significance level: <0.001.

Table 8 data has a chi-square of 29.136 at a statistically significant level (p < 0.001), which means that there are differences between the mothers of children in the study sample in the extent to which their children show a hint or a statement of their desire to live a life similar to the life of the program’s family. This result indicates the disparity in the viewing motives, as the entertainment motive constitutes a motivator for the percentage that declares their desire to imitate the life of Moshaya family.

11.2.3.2 Does your Child Ask You to Go to the Same Places or Buy Toys that are Owned by the Children of the Moshaya Family?

Table 9 data show the extent to which mothers report their child requests to go to the places that the children of Moshaya’s family have gone to, or to buy the toys they own. Children asked for it “sometimes” (53.8%) and “always” (24%), with “those who never asked” at only 22.2%. Table 9 findings show a chi-square value of 64.160, and are statistically significant (p < 0.001), which means that there are differences between the children in the study sample in the extent of their request to go to the places where children of Moshaya’s family went, or buy toys they own.

Table 9:

The extent to which viewers express their desire to go to the places shown on the channel.

The extent of the child’s demand to go to the places where the children of the Mushaya family have gone or to buy the toys they own	Percentage	Count
Often	24.0	81
Sometimes	53.8	182
Never	22.2	75
Total	100.0	338

1. χ ² = 64.160; degree of freedom: 2; significance level: <0.001.

The group that wants to imitate the children of Moshaya’s family represents approximately two-thirds of the sample. This is related to the fact that these characters are favorite/beloved characters and therefore viewers want to imitate them without the child watching that there are products and places that are presented in the episodes with a purely marketing purpose, unlike the trends of the children of Moshaya’s family with these products or places.

11.2.3.3 Does Your Child Compare What He Has with What He Saw on Moshaya’s Program?

Table 10 data indicate the extent to which the mother of the child saw the child compares what he owns and what he does in his life with what he watches in Moshaya’s program. They “do not do this” was marked by 43.5% of parents, with the percentage of children who do this "sometimes" is 34%, and the percentage of those who “always do this” was 22.5%.

Table 10:

A child’s comparison of his property and what appears in Moshaya’s family channel.

The extent to which the child compares what he owns and what he does in his life with what he watches In Moshaya Family Channel	Percentage	Count
Yes	22.5	76
No	43.5	147
Sometimes	34.0	115
Total	100.0	338

1. χ ² = 22.444; degree of freedom: 2; significance level: <0.001.

Table 10 data has a chi-square value of 22.444, and is statistically significant (p < 0.001), which means that there are differences between the children in the study sample in the extent to which they compare what they own and what they do in their lives with what they see in Moshaya’s program.

The previous result shows that more than half of the children who follow the program make comparisons between what they own and do and what appears in the episodes of Moshaya’s family, which is not a small percentage. This result indicates the need for a dialog between the children and their families to educate them about the commercial aspects of the episodes, as well as the existence of disparities in living between societal classes, the value of money and how to earn. This would help children realize the bigger picture of the mechanisms of profit and fame in YouTube, and so that the children do not become too materialistic.

12 Discussion of the Results

It is clear from the results that children in the current era have awareness of words used regularly in digital media (see Table 7), which explains the desire of a large number of them to become famous and to have their own YouTube channel. This was confirmed by another result in this study, where 75% of the mothers of these children reported the children expressed their desire to become famous or own a YouTube channel, while the percentage of children who were not interested in fame through YouTube constituted only one quarter (24.9%). Since the majority of the sample is 302 children between the ages of 5–10 years, the current study is consistent with the Swedish study (Martínez and Olsson 2019). That study indicated the extent of awareness of young YouTube viewers and their ability to form meanings from YouTube content produced by children.

And speaking of the Moshaya Family Channel in particular, children watch content that contains pranks more than other content presented by the Moshaya Family channel, with a rate of 86.1%, as they describe it as interesting, which prompts a not-small percentage of children to imitate it, as the study explained.

Children who follow the channel and imitate its pranks is one reason for mothers’ reservations about the “Moshaya Family” channel; again, this study confirmed that 52.1% of mothers prefer that their children not watch the channel, and 66.3% of mothers expressed that the channel incites the child to prank others. This is in addition to other reasons, such as stimulating the buying behavior of the child, where 78% of mothers indicated that children express their desire to go to places or buy products that appear in the channel. In this, the current is consistent with the study (Hasromia and Fatemah 2018), which emphasized that adolescents adopt bad habits as a result of their frequent viewing of YouTube, which in turn leads to parents’ annoyance.

Regarding other negative effects, mothers expressed their dissatisfaction with the channel’s use of morally inappropriate words in addition to the replacement of Arabic words with English words. In an attempt to limit such words, this study found that the children who follow the channel repeat words such as: “Abra Kadbra,” “with yourself,” “I made you a prank,” “unit by unit,” “Baba can you give me the iPad,” “national faith,” “tidy up,” “slime prank,” “Iman Chobe Chobe Nanao song,” “Yom New,” “new,” and “happy life.” By using these words, it becomes clear that they show the child’s interest in, implementations of pranks. It also shows disrespect in dealing with others, such as saying “with yourself” and giving orders to others like a father in the imperative form without using words such as “please.” This result is specifically similar to the study by Hasromia and Fatemah (2018) that confirmed the acquisition of bad habits among adolescents who follow YouTube, including the lack of respect between fathers and sons, which was criticized by the conservative mothers on the channel’s episodes because it encourages children to prank their parents and marginalizes the respect and appreciation expected to be shown towards the father.

And some of the repeated words, such as “Abrakadabra,” carry an undesirable religious dimension because they are common in witchcraft and sorcery that are not in line with the values of Saudi society. Focusing on the clips and words that aroused the viewer’s attention is very important, as the repeated exposure to these values works to form the child’s value system and his behavior with others. As well as the repetition of words and songs devoid of meanings and values. The phrase “a new day, a new life” is the only positive expression in the negative group. A Dutch study has shown the extent of children’s attachment in the late childhood stage from 13 to 18 years to their YouTube personalities they follow and imitate them in the way they dress and their desire to create their own YouTube channel and achieve the same degree of popularity and fame.

The results of previous studies and the current study have unanimously agreed on the multiple negative effects of YouTube programs on children and adolescents, foremost among which are: lack of respect between children and parents, health damage, delay in performing school homework, encouraging consumption behavior, drawing an unrealistic picture of the father, using language morally inappropriate, inciting the child to harm others, followers resorting to lying and using arguments when parents object to watching YouTube. Despite this, there are a few studies (Pérez et al. 2018) that have confirmed the positive that YouTube celebrities provide by reviewing their failure stories and how to overcome them, providing positive advice and sharing their life and social concerns, which positively reflects on the intellectual and social maturity of followers. However, by comparing studies, it is clear that the age group is an essential factor in the effects of YouTube content, as there is a disparity in the content that attracts children and that attracts teenagers, and the two groups also differ in the encoding and perception of messages in the content.

13 Conclusion and Recommendations

The current study concludes that children are currently living in a digital and technological revolution, where the YouTube platform is an integrated world that contains a diverse number of content that attracts children, and thus this is reflected in their beliefs, the values they acquire and their behaviors with which they interact with others and in application of the current study, the Moshaya Family Channel is one of the programs that affect children. Based on what has been revealed, the study gives a number of recommendations. First, the family should give their children enough time while control what children watch on YouTube. Second, the study recommends conducting studies related to other YouTube channels specialized in content provided to children. Third, the study recommends directing greater research efforts on the specific category of children and regarding the content presented to them in the new media.