In this case it doesn't seem like it was as simple as "time maximization", of course everyone tries to do that. The problem was that pathological/excessive use

In this case it doesn't seem like it was as simple as "time maximization", of course everyone tries to do that. The problem was that pathological/excessive users were overly skewing the recommendations algorithms. These users tend to watch things that might be unhealthy in various ways, which then tend to get over-promoted, and lead to the creation of more content in that vein. Not a good cycle to encourage. Netflix may have this problem, but FB, YT and other (relatively) open access platforms definitely suffer from it to varying degrees. Like the author, I do find it refreshing that at least some steps are being taken to identify and remediate. A lot more can be done.