6 ms·

People still use YouTube for non specific search results? All that shows up when I try to “explore” is what could be called tabloid amateur videos, top 5-10 li

People still use YouTube for non specific search results? All that shows up when I try to “explore” is what could be called tabloid amateur videos, top 5-10 lists and a bunch of other shit that will quite literally waste your life as it makes you dumber. Maybe it’s my own fault for having watched the Churchill vs Roosevelt epic rap battle too many times, but nothing YouTube suggests is anywhere close to something that I won’t shut off after 5 seconds. I mean, it’s so bad I actually spent time to turn off auto play on every device I access YouTube on.

api 9y ago
A lot of those tabloid amateur videos are actually second and third hand copies of tabloid amateur videos created by bots. There's also a ton of bot-generated podcast spam on YouTube where bots will pull podcasts from feeds and then dress them up with cheesy video content.
icebraining 9y ago
If you remove a recommendation, it has a link saying "tell us why", and you can say "don't recommend me videos based on video X" (X being the video that YT used to generate that suggestion). I find YT's recommendations a bit myopic (too focused on what I've watched in the past few days), but I literally don't have any clickbait or other crap videos, it's actually pretty OK.
- VyseofArcadia 9y ago
  Recommendations engines seem to be pretty myopic in general. Buy shoes on Amazon once, and you are a shoe aficionado. Listen to a single metal album on whatever streaming service, and that's all it'll recommend for days or weeks.
- solarkraft 9y ago
  Oh no. You mentioned it. I've used it hundreds of times, but since "clickbait bullshit" isn't an option, there are 3 and they're pretty dumb it probably won't learn any time soon. It sometimes comes pretty close to driving me away from the service.
- walshemj 9y ago
  Yes I have never seen these strange videos. I do get slightly annoyed at the repetition of adds I don't really need to see the same Barclays bank add 5 times when watching critical role. A cute funny gorilla is funny the first time after the 100th time not so much - now if you had an actual good ISA rate I might engage as my current cash isa form Santander is a bit crap.
epicide 9y ago
I have to admit, for better or for worse, YouTube is getting better at predicting new things for me to watch. That is probably because I consistently follow very narrow types of channels and watch those channels as my main form of video consumption. If I watch an abnormal video linked from a friend or something, that does tend to drastically alter what it recommends. "Oh you watched a weird cartoon edit dubbed with an old song? Here, we have thousands of those to recommend!" Honestly, I'm just glad it has mostly stopped only recommending videos I've recently watched. That's worse than a bad recommendation.
- matt_wulfeck 9y ago
  Me too. I recently went to YouTube to see examples of a specific type of stone fruit grafting and was not disappointed. So many great examples for such a niche thing.
  - dithering 9y ago
    Instructional content from passionate hobbyists is where YT shines, I think. My recommendations are full of great content from niche channels, plus some music videos.
- terminalcommand 9y ago
  I feel the same way with reddit. But lately I've been hearing of the term "filter bubble". Social media is showing us exactly what we want and nothing else. We live in it, but have no idea what we're missing. The messages that are pushed to us probably does not paint the whole picture -hence we like it-. For example I only read HN and tech related sites. I have no idea what's going on in the world outside the world of tech :). Lately I've been trying to read the printed version of the economist in PDF form, it surprised me that it didn't feel like reading a news site. Everything was structured, well written etc. I can recommend following periodical publications for news, rather than only looking at feeds and visiting sites.
  - code_duck 9y ago
    It’s eye-opening to start a brand new Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or reddit account and view the feed and recommendations they give to a fresh account. For instance, on Instagram I followed one middle eastern celebrity and my Explore tab became filled with pregnant ladies’ bellies and babies.
ttul 9y ago
But ask a six year old and all that random weird shit is the most Interesting Stuff in the World (TM).
deleted 9y ago
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api 9y ago

A lot of those tabloid amateur videos are actually second and third hand copies of tabloid amateur videos created by bots. There's also a ton of bot-generated podcast spam on YouTube where bots will pull podcasts from feeds and then dress them up with cheesy video content.

icebraining 9y ago

If you remove a recommendation, it has a link saying "tell us why", and you can say "don't recommend me videos based on video X" (X being the video that YT used to generate that suggestion). I find YT's recommendations a bit myopic (too focused on what I've watched in the past few days), but I literally don't have any clickbait or other crap videos, it's actually pretty OK.

VyseofArcadia 9y ago
Recommendations engines seem to be pretty myopic in general. Buy shoes on Amazon once, and you are a shoe aficionado. Listen to a single metal album on whatever streaming service, and that's all it'll recommend for days or weeks.
solarkraft 9y ago
Oh no. You mentioned it. I've used it hundreds of times, but since "clickbait bullshit" isn't an option, there are 3 and they're pretty dumb it probably won't learn any time soon. It sometimes comes pretty close to driving me away from the service.
walshemj 9y ago
Yes I have never seen these strange videos. I do get slightly annoyed at the repetition of adds I don't really need to see the same Barclays bank add 5 times when watching critical role. A cute funny gorilla is funny the first time after the 100th time not so much - now if you had an actual good ISA rate I might engage as my current cash isa form Santander is a bit crap.

epicide 9y ago

I have to admit, for better or for worse, YouTube is getting better at predicting new things for me to watch. That is probably because I consistently follow very narrow types of channels and watch those channels as my main form of video consumption. If I watch an abnormal video linked from a friend or something, that does tend to drastically alter what it recommends. "Oh you watched a weird cartoon edit dubbed with an old song? Here, we have thousands of those to recommend!" Honestly, I'm just glad it has mostly stopped only recommending videos I've recently watched. That's worse than a bad recommendation.

matt_wulfeck 9y ago
Me too. I recently went to YouTube to see examples of a specific type of stone fruit grafting and was not disappointed. So many great examples for such a niche thing.
- dithering 9y ago
  Instructional content from passionate hobbyists is where YT shines, I think. My recommendations are full of great content from niche channels, plus some music videos.
terminalcommand 9y ago
I feel the same way with reddit. But lately I've been hearing of the term "filter bubble". Social media is showing us exactly what we want and nothing else. We live in it, but have no idea what we're missing. The messages that are pushed to us probably does not paint the whole picture -hence we like it-. For example I only read HN and tech related sites. I have no idea what's going on in the world outside the world of tech :). Lately I've been trying to read the printed version of the economist in PDF form, it surprised me that it didn't feel like reading a news site. Everything was structured, well written etc. I can recommend following periodical publications for news, rather than only looking at feeds and visiting sites.
- code_duck 9y ago
  It’s eye-opening to start a brand new Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or reddit account and view the feed and recommendations they give to a fresh account. For instance, on Instagram I followed one middle eastern celebrity and my Explore tab became filled with pregnant ladies’ bellies and babies.

ttul 9y ago

But ask a six year old and all that random weird shit is the most Interesting Stuff in the World (TM).

deleted 9y ago

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