Need Advice for New Family Gaming Channel Name

S

Sido

New Member
Hello! Just looking for some thoughts and advice and perspectives. This is a bit long. Sorry!

My girls (8 and 10) and I love playing PC and console games, geeking out to cool merchandise, and all that fun stuff. They both have favorite youtubers they enjoy and they want us to start a family channel where we can do our thing, too. I love the idea and am working on getting it all set up. Which brings me to my current dilemma:

Should we include our surname in the channel name?

I have heard arguments for and against, but usually from random people who don't always have much experience on Youtube (or new media in general). After finding this site, I wanted to get your thoughts. On the one hand, there are a ton of famous channels (podcasts, blogs, etc.), even with kids younger than mine, which use real names. On the other, there's "privacy."

Pretend our last name is Day. The name everyone seems to like best would be "Happy Days" (or something like it: Happy Days Games, Happy Days Gaming, etc.) Our name is not Day, but something with a similar vibe. We really like the name and I already have all of the various internet real estate. But again, I'm still mulling it over.

One last thing. Both my wife and I are already published authors under our real names, and my father-in-law is a more popular author and draws plenty of attention (lovers and haters) under his real name. We also have an online presence in the area of education, in which we sometimes engage in polarizing issues. Honestly, while a channel would bring a new audience to the mix and shed more light on the girls, our privacy in general went out the door a long time ago. :)

My imagination can come up with every worst case scenario, but no better names. Part of me wants to run with it. Another part of me always struggle to just jump.

Thoughts? Thanks for helping me process! I know it's my call in the end.
 
Stick to keeping your channel name unique I could have used my name for my channel but it just didnt seem right and its almost like a turn off for me to see full names I just dont expect their content to be any good so I wouldnt watch it but thats what i think anyway. definitely do a variation on ''happy days''
 
I personally wouldn't use my surname on YouTube. It's really easy for weirdos to find out where you live and more. I would also have another concern. How am I going to protect my daughters from mean comments on YouTube? People can be really harsh on YouTube.
 
First of all, really consider what you're doing by putting your children out there at such an early age. Don't let them do anything that they will regret and try not to tie your channel to their real life. Don't use your real names and if possible don't show their faces. Trust me, it's for their own good.

I'm guessing your channel will be about having fun with games so try to make your name positive sounding and game related. Maybe something like "Fami Games". I know that may sound weird at first, but I think that's the basic structure you should follow.

I wish you much success with your future channel! :D
 
Thanks for the replies! They're coming quicker than I can reply.

1. Definitely wouldn't use a full name for our channel name. Nothing that formal for this channel.

2. Dealing with weirdos is definitely a concern. That said, we already deal with weirdos and hate given our other ventures. But maybe I shouldn't add any more to it than necessary. :)

3. Youtube comments CAN be brutal! But protecting them from that stuff isn't hard. This is a big reason why we are doing a family channel and not individual channels for each of us. But either way, I would be the one moderating at all times, and this would be made clear in the About section. It's fairly common for kid and family channels.

4. I totally understand the privacy and safety concerns. That said, there are literally thousands of channels with millions of subscribers where kids are front and center. Now, we have no intention of being one of those vlog-style channels where we post our drama or daily lives or anything like that. We will do Let's Plays, Unboxings, and stuff like that. Most of the time it will just be our voices over our gameplay. We will all be on camera together for unboxings and stuff like that, but I'm not concerned about that. Nothing will be streamed live and I'll be able to edit appropriately.

5. Our goal is to have fun, be happy, keep it family friendly, and stay positive, all while doing the stuff we love.

Thanks again everyone! It's great to get your insight. Looking forward to getting over this first hurdle soon.
 
mitchell scott said:
Then moderate or disable comments...
Click to expand...

I doubt it's a good idea to disable comments, because people really to like interact with YouTubers. Moderate is an option, but I don't know how active the 8 and 10 year old are on the internet. They might see a comment on Twitter or whatever before the parents do.

But that's obviously something that Sido needs to figure out.
 
Malarki said:
I doubt you can hide it. Obviously the girls want to see the channel and the videos. And what people say.
Click to expand...

In our case, I am not worried about the girls having to deal with the haters. I will be moderating and banning as necessary and will oversee their time reading the channel, etc. Of course, they will be able to see our videos in raw, but I can also show them on YouTube while hiding the comments as necessary. It's a concern though, and something a parent needs to address. Thanks for the reminder!

As for Twitter, etc. they are not active on any social media sites. Is it possible they may come in contact with something negative? Yes. But it's not terribly likely. That said, we also spend time talking about such things and learning how to deal with conflict, hate, bullying, etc. All that to say, I totally understand and appreciate the concern. I think there are real dangers out there. But in our situation, I am confident we can handle it well.
 
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