5 ms·

Same with YouTube. It is infuriating as a user.

orangegreen 5y ago
What I really dislike now about YouTube's algorithm is its insistence on showing short videos. I do not come to YouTube to watch 30 second videos. If I want to watch short videos I'd go to Instagram or Tiktok. Yet, no. I am bombarded with short videos. I removed the videos from showing up on the home page with some CSS, so now I solely rely on related videos for non-subscription content. Those seem to be delivered based on engagement so they're usually longer. Unfortunately, half the time they're hour long videos. Come on YouTube, just give me a 5-10 minute video.
- tablespoon 5y ago
  > What I really dislike now about YouTube's algorithm is its insistence on showing short videos. I do not come to YouTube to watch 30 second videos. If I want to watch short videos I'd go to Instagram or Tiktok. Yet, no. I am bombarded with short videos. Was it always like that, or is it them trying to ape Tiktok? I use Youtube a lot, but never from their home page. One of the most annoying things is how, whenever there's some hot new thing, the old things I like seem to race to destroy themselves to imitate it.
  - throwawayboise 5y ago
    I use YouTube mostly from the Android app, and they are constantly pushing their "shorts" and COVID-19 propaganda. I'm even a Premium subscriber and have found no way to disable this.
- jazzyjackson 5y ago
  I was listening to the latest Reply All podcast about TikTok and they theorized that one big advantage the TikTok algorithm has for getting to know you is it gets to see like 50 - 60 reactions per hour of app usage, of whether the algo was hot or cold with each minute long video. YouTube is probably jealous because most of their data is just people putting on music playlists and not interacting at all.
- Telemakhos 5y ago
  When you play advertisements between ads, shorter videos mean more ads per hour.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
afterburner 5y ago
Just use your Youtube subscription page https://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptions https://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptions
- null_object 5y ago
  > Just use your Youtube subscription page I know this isn't a YouTube algorithm discussion thread, but just to jump-in and say that I try to use the 'home' view in the iOS app as discovery for content that's related to my subscriptions to find new channels. The actual 'Discovery' tab is completely useless to me, as it's exclusively filled with complete trash that's trending locally (and in my case in Sweden, this means endless videos of local reality 'stars' doing 'crazy' stuff, interspersed with young women with well-filled tops talking to camera about 'something' from their beds, and what appear to be Arabic romantic dramas, and of course videos about sports cars). The home view mostly shows me content that includes my subscriptions and is related to it (programming channels, large-format analog photography channels), but about once a month - despite being a Premium subscriber with a very carefully curated watch history (I don't even click on friends' 'hilarious' YouTube links anymore) - the whole algorithm breaks down and even my Home view is totally overtaken by big-breasted girls, Arabic(?) dramas, some sort of Free Fight boxing competition, and other trash that has to be removed one video at a time with at least two clicks each. The whole process is really fiddly and I'm always in dread of accidentally clicking the wrong tiny and poorly-designed little interface element so the video plays instead of confirming (for the fiftieth time) that what I really want is "don't recommend channel". I've rage-quit my Premium subscription a few times about this. But always come back as otherwise YouTube interrupts the videos every few minutes with their random spray ads these days - making it impossible to watch a 40-minute video and retain my sanity.
phy6 5y ago
I agree. My revenge as a user has been to scrape entire channels I want to watch, as I can only imagine things getting worse than they are now (less free, less intrusive, more thought-police). I now have a lifetime worth of non-perishable knowledge/wisdom stored up in video form, which compliments ebooks. It's like prepping but for data. Shot out to r/datahoarder.
everdrive 5y ago
The best thing to do with facebook is to ignore the feed altogether. Or even block it. Use search, and use subscriptions.
- nicbou 5y ago
  Recently I used uBlock filters to hide feeds from various sites. It instantly curbed my usage.
axiolite 5y ago
Switching to NewPipe solved this problem for me. Performs better than the Google Youtube app, preserves some privacy, etc.

What I really dislike now about YouTube's algorithm is its insistence on showing short videos. I do not come to YouTube to watch 30 second videos. If I want to watch short videos I'd go to Instagram or Tiktok. Yet, no. I am bombarded with short videos. I removed the videos from showing up on the home page with some CSS, so now I solely rely on related videos for non-subscription content. Those seem to be delivered based on engagement so they're usually longer. Unfortunately, half the time they're hour long videos. Come on YouTube, just give me a 5-10 minute video.

tablespoon 5y ago
> What I really dislike now about YouTube's algorithm is its insistence on showing short videos. I do not come to YouTube to watch 30 second videos. If I want to watch short videos I'd go to Instagram or Tiktok. Yet, no. I am bombarded with short videos. Was it always like that, or is it them trying to ape Tiktok? I use Youtube a lot, but never from their home page. One of the most annoying things is how, whenever there's some hot new thing, the old things I like seem to race to destroy themselves to imitate it.
- throwawayboise 5y ago
  I use YouTube mostly from the Android app, and they are constantly pushing their "shorts" and COVID-19 propaganda. I'm even a Premium subscriber and have found no way to disable this.
jazzyjackson 5y ago
I was listening to the latest Reply All podcast about TikTok and they theorized that one big advantage the TikTok algorithm has for getting to know you is it gets to see like 50 - 60 reactions per hour of app usage, of whether the algo was hot or cold with each minute long video. YouTube is probably jealous because most of their data is just people putting on music playlists and not interacting at all.
Telemakhos 5y ago
When you play advertisements between ads, shorter videos mean more ads per hour.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

afterburner 5y ago

Just use your Youtube subscription page https://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptions https://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptions

null_object 5y ago
> Just use your Youtube subscription page I know this isn't a YouTube algorithm discussion thread, but just to jump-in and say that I try to use the 'home' view in the iOS app as discovery for content that's related to my subscriptions to find new channels. The actual 'Discovery' tab is completely useless to me, as it's exclusively filled with complete trash that's trending locally (and in my case in Sweden, this means endless videos of local reality 'stars' doing 'crazy' stuff, interspersed with young women with well-filled tops talking to camera about 'something' from their beds, and what appear to be Arabic romantic dramas, and of course videos about sports cars). The home view mostly shows me content that includes my subscriptions and is related to it (programming channels, large-format analog photography channels), but about once a month - despite being a Premium subscriber with a very carefully curated watch history (I don't even click on friends' 'hilarious' YouTube links anymore) - the whole algorithm breaks down and even my Home view is totally overtaken by big-breasted girls, Arabic(?) dramas, some sort of Free Fight boxing competition, and other trash that has to be removed one video at a time with at least two clicks each. The whole process is really fiddly and I'm always in dread of accidentally clicking the wrong tiny and poorly-designed little interface element so the video plays instead of confirming (for the fiftieth time) that what I really want is "don't recommend channel". I've rage-quit my Premium subscription a few times about this. But always come back as otherwise YouTube interrupts the videos every few minutes with their random spray ads these days - making it impossible to watch a 40-minute video and retain my sanity.

phy6 5y ago

I agree. My revenge as a user has been to scrape entire channels I want to watch, as I can only imagine things getting worse than they are now (less free, less intrusive, more thought-police). I now have a lifetime worth of non-perishable knowledge/wisdom stored up in video form, which compliments ebooks. It's like prepping but for data. Shot out to r/datahoarder.

everdrive 5y ago

The best thing to do with facebook is to ignore the feed altogether. Or even block it. Use search, and use subscriptions.

nicbou 5y ago
Recently I used uBlock filters to hide feeds from various sites. It instantly curbed my usage.

axiolite 5y ago

Switching to NewPipe solved this problem for me. Performs better than the Google Youtube app, preserves some privacy, etc.