He's one of several creators on Tankee, the new family-friendly streaming platform.
As every parent knows, kids love to watch their favorite YouTubers play video games – and those YouTubers aren’t always appropriate for young viewers. One of the creators who is leading the way against the trash talk and profanity is NyteOwl, aka Brandon from Idaho, who has amassed almost five million views on his YouTube channel with family friendly videos and streams.
Whether he’s building objects and items from Clash Royale in real life, or just streaming his gameplay sessions with his wife and kids, he’s one of a new generation of less confrontational content creators aiming to celebrate the simply joys of gaming.
As he prepares to launch his own channel on kid-friendly streaming platform Tankee, Super Parent caught up with him to talk about juggling appropriate screen time for five children, and why he chose to go clean with his online presence.
How did you decide to create YouTube videos with your family?
Initially I thought it would be a fun experience for myself and my family members. I love doing things with my kids, and I enjoy new challenges. YouTube seemed like a great venture to be able to do something my kids could watch, be in, and tell their friends about.
Was everybody on board? No, my wife laughed hysterically when I told her.
You obviously love games and so do your kids — what kind of gaming guidelines do you have set up for your household?
In general, we are an outdoor family. We spend most of the summer away from home, which does limit my YouTube production. Of the 5 kids, I only struggle with 2 as far as gaming guidelines in the winter. We do time limits and typically offer bonus time if chores or other various tasks are completed. If they have passed their time limit and still need more gaming time, they must use their chore/earned credits to keep playing. In general we don’t talk about, or focus on games as a mainstay of entertainment.
What are the challenges of being a family-friendly influencer?
I don’t feel like there are many challenges as it is a way of life for my family and myself. I feel some may struggle to adapt, but it has been simple for us to maintain the same atmosphere in our videos as we do in our home.
What will families be able to see you do on Tankee? Do you have anything awesome planned for Tankee that we should know about?
Typically, playing games with my kids!! We are launching a new channel shortly with our family videos and kid challenges that I am excited about. We are also working with the creator of some new games as well as Clash Royale to open up a more expanded gaming channel for NYTEOWL. We are very excited for what the future holds for us and the content that will be on Tankee!
Who are your kids watching playing games?
Really I don’t keep up on this as well as I should [insert Tankee!), but I know they generally watch Minecraft videos, and Fortnite right now (NINJA). Unfortunately the sidebar is a challenge, along with the autoplay feature. I have checked history and seen some not so great videos that my kids have watched. Generally they are good about skipping, but one of my boys, who has autism, doesn’t understand some of the reasons we don’t watch that and it seems that he struggles with the skip button.
What is a gaming influencer and get to know who they are watching?
A gaming influencer is somebody who is a role model and who will influence anybody watching through the reactions they have around the game they are playing. A bigger story is told by the way somebody reacts to certain [gaming] situations than the skill level of any given player. I personally try to be a positive influence no matter the situation and bring fun and my family into the picture.
Click here to learn more about Tankee. Also check out our interview with Tankee CEO, Gerald Youngblood, to learn how Tankee plans to keep kids safe on the platform.
