21 votes

As algorithms take over, YouTube's recommendations highlight a human problem

5 comments

  1. annadane
    Link
    One thing I've always hated about Youtube is how copyright issues aside they went from an amazing place to discover content to prioritizing clickbait at all costs

    One thing I've always hated about Youtube is how copyright issues aside they went from an amazing place to discover content to prioritizing clickbait at all costs

    13 votes
  2. [3]
    JamesTeaKirk
    Link
    Youtube's search and "related videos" are essentially unusable today for exactly what this article is pointing out. Everything has been increasingly geared toward maximum watch time and retention,...

    Youtube's search and "related videos" are essentially unusable today for exactly what this article is pointing out. Everything has been increasingly geared toward maximum watch time and retention, rather than relevance.

    11 votes
    1. teaearlgraycold
      Link Parent
      I was going to say that I've never had issues with YouTube recommending me conspiracy videos, but maybe that's because I only watch videos from my subscription feed. Sometimes I might go one level...

      I was going to say that I've never had issues with YouTube recommending me conspiracy videos, but maybe that's because I only watch videos from my subscription feed. Sometimes I might go one level down in recommendations on the sidebar, but I'm certainly not researching news or science on the site.

      7 votes
    2. ruspaceni
      Link Parent
      I found an interesting video the other day and wanted to dive into related ones, but all i could see was generic suggested things. Going into incognito just gave me essentially the trending tab of...

      I found an interesting video the other day and wanted to dive into related ones, but all i could see was generic suggested things. Going into incognito just gave me essentially the trending tab of suggestions.

      Is there actually any way to get the old "related videos" thing back?
      It's been severely hampering my ability to find new stuff naturally. I have to hope the channel self-curates via the channels tab and that the community has a lot of references to eachother/collabs.

      4 votes
  3. elcuello
    Link
    I only use YouTube on apple TV and holy shit is that horrible. I remember the vastness and incredible feeling YT gave me in the beginning on PC. The videos were endless. YT on apple TV is the...

    I only use YouTube on apple TV and holy shit is that horrible. I remember the vastness and incredible feeling YT gave me in the beginning on PC. The videos were endless. YT on apple TV is the complete opposite. It feels small, the recommendations are the same and keeps you paralyzed in a corner where they can monetize and feed you the exact same thing over and over. And I haven't even mentioned the UI that makes me wanna throw my TV out the window.

    7 votes