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Sure, nobody wants to be associated with the next armed person who tries to take down a “secret pedo ring” in the non-existent basement of a pizza joint. After

Sure, nobody wants to be associated with the next armed person who tries to take down a “secret pedo ring” in the non-existent basement of a pizza joint. After all, it may not end without bloodshed next time. Advertisers are going to start placing similar demands on YouTube that they do on TV, and for the same reasons. They don’t want or need bad press. Of course this might finally open the door to taking a slice of the video hosting pie. It might also end up like a Reddit vs. Voat, because at the end of the day a lot of the crap being objected to here is really quite objectionable. I know that people like to invoke freedom of expression arguments, censorship and so on, but again, look at Voat if you haven’t eaten lately; it’s a combination of appalling and dead. Usefully though, these alt sites can act as a useful way to monitor the degree of real censorship, if it exists. When and if you start to see significant amounts of something other than paranoia and hate there, you’ll know something is being suppressed elsewhere. So far though, not much.

noir_lord 9y ago
Shrugs, people invoke freedom of expression where it simply doesn't apply, YouTube is a private entity, they can pretty much nuke any content for any reason. Frankly they have a tough path to carve between objectionable content and damaging their platform. YouTube's suggested videos is a tire fire, they suggest stuff I'm not remotely interested in and wouldn't watch at all. I mean my interests aren't hard to profile, engineering videos, chess videos and programming stuff.
- IntronExon 9y ago
  YouTube's suggested videos is a tire fire, they suggest stuff I'm not remotely interested in and wouldn't watch at all. I mean my interests aren't hard to profile, engineering videos, chess videos and programming stuff. Hell Yes! For some very strange reason watching a bit of Periodic Videos and Numberphile made YouTube think I was interested in batshit conspiracy theories and some “KingOfRamdom” twit. Thrown in there is a ton of viral “Let’s see if this explodes?” and “You’ll never guess what happens next!” tripe. I watched some really good CNC videos, very technical, and I was flooded with recommendations to watch a guy apply women’s makeup. I can’t even begin to imagine the connection.
  - olliej 9y ago
    Don't forget the YT suggestion of "next up:" which seems to use the Star Wars algorithm for determining the ordering of episodes
- Slansitartop 9y ago
  > Shrugs, people invoke freedom of expression where it simply doesn't apply, YouTube is a private entity, they can pretty much nuke any content for any reason. You've got it mixed up, you're only supposed to deploy that snark when someone complains about a private company violating First Amendment rights. Seriously now, I think its very important to consider how the increasing concentrated private ownership of public communication affects the people's natural rights of free expression. The legal regime that was developed to protect free expression when there was only one entity (the government) with the concentrated power to widely censor may no longer be adequate for the modern world.
  - IntronExon 9y ago
    It’s definitely something to keep in mind, and a reason to keep an eye on alternative outlets that don’t curate content at all. So far those alternatives seem to confirm the wisdom of that curation. By analogy to the world of art, it’s good to look beyond big museums, schools, and galleries. Graffiti art and folk art for example, don’t come from the heavily controlled world of professional art. The truth though, is that most graffiti is crude bullshit, not unlike most of Voat for example. Keep an eye on it, because there might be some fine art hidden in there, you can still understand why curstion is necessary; imperfect, it necessary.
  - Feniks 9y ago
    Outcasts and undesirables aren't invited to parties. Is that censorship or is that just how society works?
    - Slansitartop 9y ago
      It could be if there's only one or a handful of groups throwing parties, and if going to parties is essential to political participation. Put another way: what wasn't censorship when there were a dozen independent media outlets in every city becomes censorship when there are only a dozen or fewer independent media outlets in the whole country. We're not there yet, but that's the direction we're headed.

noir_lord 9y ago

Shrugs, people invoke freedom of expression where it simply doesn't apply, YouTube is a private entity, they can pretty much nuke any content for any reason. Frankly they have a tough path to carve between objectionable content and damaging their platform. YouTube's suggested videos is a tire fire, they suggest stuff I'm not remotely interested in and wouldn't watch at all. I mean my interests aren't hard to profile, engineering videos, chess videos and programming stuff.

IntronExon 9y ago
YouTube's suggested videos is a tire fire, they suggest stuff I'm not remotely interested in and wouldn't watch at all. I mean my interests aren't hard to profile, engineering videos, chess videos and programming stuff. Hell Yes! For some very strange reason watching a bit of Periodic Videos and Numberphile made YouTube think I was interested in batshit conspiracy theories and some “KingOfRamdom” twit. Thrown in there is a ton of viral “Let’s see if this explodes?” and “You’ll never guess what happens next!” tripe. I watched some really good CNC videos, very technical, and I was flooded with recommendations to watch a guy apply women’s makeup. I can’t even begin to imagine the connection.
- olliej 9y ago
  Don't forget the YT suggestion of "next up:" which seems to use the Star Wars algorithm for determining the ordering of episodes
Slansitartop 9y ago
> Shrugs, people invoke freedom of expression where it simply doesn't apply, YouTube is a private entity, they can pretty much nuke any content for any reason. You've got it mixed up, you're only supposed to deploy that snark when someone complains about a private company violating First Amendment rights. Seriously now, I think its very important to consider how the increasing concentrated private ownership of public communication affects the people's natural rights of free expression. The legal regime that was developed to protect free expression when there was only one entity (the government) with the concentrated power to widely censor may no longer be adequate for the modern world.
- IntronExon 9y ago
  It’s definitely something to keep in mind, and a reason to keep an eye on alternative outlets that don’t curate content at all. So far those alternatives seem to confirm the wisdom of that curation. By analogy to the world of art, it’s good to look beyond big museums, schools, and galleries. Graffiti art and folk art for example, don’t come from the heavily controlled world of professional art. The truth though, is that most graffiti is crude bullshit, not unlike most of Voat for example. Keep an eye on it, because there might be some fine art hidden in there, you can still understand why curstion is necessary; imperfect, it necessary.
- Feniks 9y ago
  Outcasts and undesirables aren't invited to parties. Is that censorship or is that just how society works?
  - Slansitartop 9y ago
    It could be if there's only one or a handful of groups throwing parties, and if going to parties is essential to political participation. Put another way: what wasn't censorship when there were a dozen independent media outlets in every city becomes censorship when there are only a dozen or fewer independent media outlets in the whole country. We're not there yet, but that's the direction we're headed.