Music, fashion, entertainment, and television series—some of the most admired, loved, and closely followed forms of media content within the culture industry—are delivered to audiences via YouTube. In this process, viewers consume YouTube content primarily for entertainment and pleasure, as a way to escape the routines of everyday life. YouTube, much like for adults, functions as a source of endless entertainment for children. From infancy, children develop a familiarity with the YouTube interface, and it has increasingly become a central component of their leisure time activities.

YouTube serves as a kind of "digital pacifier" for children who refuse to eat, frequently become bored, or constantly require distraction. While YouTube is often entrusted with the role of entertaining our children, it is also widely debated due to the presence of content that may be harmful to their psychological development. Moreover, as a platform driven by commercial interests and profit motives, YouTube has rapidly evolved into a marketplace where products and brands are actively promoted within content.

Influencer marketing has become particularly prominent in child-generated content, with parents often playing a significant role in encouraging their children's participation as content creators. Consequently, the topic of "YouTube and Children" has attracted considerable academic attention globally, resulting in a growing body of research and literature, as well as the implementation of various regulatory measures aimed at protecting children.

In contrast, while academic articles and theses on the subject exist in our context, there has yet to be a comprehensive standalone book that fully addresses the significance of the topic. Particularly lacking is a work that explores the YouTube economy, its relationship with advertising, ethical considerations, and the existing regulatory frameworks.

Each chapter of this book draws on a broad international literature base and engages with previous studies conducted in the field. We hope that this book will serve as a key reference not only for researchers working in this area, but also for parents, educators, regulatory bodies, and policymakers.