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I don’t even buy the reasoning that the recommendations are somehow “personalized,” because they don’t seem to be... At all. I have never watched a political vi

I don’t even buy the reasoning that the recommendations are somehow “personalized,” because they don’t seem to be... At all. I have never watched a political video on YouTube, or really anything unrelated to music or computer science, yet my “recommended videos” are always full of Ben Shapiro and his ilk. It’s easier to find relevant videos by doing a regular Google search, which is a little ironic.

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indigochill 7y ago
I think YouTube in general has little understanding of how to manage content, which is a weird problem for an arm of Google. I had a bit of a wake-up call as to just how bad the problem was when I saw video search results for "GPLv4". Normal search engine? No problem. GNU Public License. YouTube? Nope. A bunch of videos from a "gplv4.org" when I try the search just now, which evidently has nothing to do with open source licensing.
chapium 7y ago
You can generally avoid political talk shows by clicking the not interested button. They still bubble up, especially if you watch general interest videos that have primarily male audiences.
- jpl56 7y ago
  "Not interested" seems to work just for a little while. They will come back eventually...
kalleboo 7y ago
My recommendations are massively personalized. I live in a non-English speaking country, and looking at the trending lists and friend's playlists, all the recommendations are in the local language. My recommendations are 80% English and 20% local language (local stuff that I do watch). 70% of my recommendations are also centered around the interests I watch - technology, old computer restoration, etc.
HappySweeney 7y ago
I recently read a plausible theory as to why Ben Shapiro keeps coming up: YouTube's algorithm is being gamed so it ends up believing that Shapiro videos have something to do with what you just watched. So some group of people/bots "watches" a lecture on the mating habits of the red-tailed swallow, then Shapiro, then another lecture on birds, then Shapiro again. Eventually, YT thinks Shapiro vids are related to bird lectures, and makes the recommendations.

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indigochill 7y ago

I think YouTube in general has little understanding of how to manage content, which is a weird problem for an arm of Google. I had a bit of a wake-up call as to just how bad the problem was when I saw video search results for "GPLv4". Normal search engine? No problem. GNU Public License. YouTube? Nope. A bunch of videos from a "gplv4.org" when I try the search just now, which evidently has nothing to do with open source licensing.

chapium 7y ago

You can generally avoid political talk shows by clicking the not interested button. They still bubble up, especially if you watch general interest videos that have primarily male audiences.

jpl56 7y ago
"Not interested" seems to work just for a little while. They will come back eventually...

kalleboo 7y ago

My recommendations are massively personalized. I live in a non-English speaking country, and looking at the trending lists and friend's playlists, all the recommendations are in the local language. My recommendations are 80% English and 20% local language (local stuff that I do watch). 70% of my recommendations are also centered around the interests I watch - technology, old computer restoration, etc.

HappySweeney 7y ago

I recently read a plausible theory as to why Ben Shapiro keeps coming up: YouTube's algorithm is being gamed so it ends up believing that Shapiro videos have something to do with what you just watched. So some group of people/bots "watches" a lecture on the mating habits of the red-tailed swallow, then Shapiro, then another lecture on birds, then Shapiro again. Eventually, YT thinks Shapiro vids are related to bird lectures, and makes the recommendations.