6 ms·

I watch a lot of lefty "news" and infotainment. I still get ads for the conservative propaganda, survival rations, prepping, etc. I think it's because I also

I watch a lot of lefty "news" and infotainment. I still get ads for the conservative propaganda, survival rations, prepping, etc. I think it's because I also watch a lot of firearms hobby content. Kinda silly, but it does make me chuckle that people like Ben Shapiro, PragerU, and 4Patriots are subsidizing my lefty youtube subscriptions.

pohl 5y ago
I mostly consume guitar technique & music theory videos, yet I still see ads suggesting I might want to buy & bury a plastic tote full of MREs out in the wilderness just in case. Maybe it's because I live in Nebraska? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- da_chicken 5y ago
  That's probably part of it, but you can tell YouTube to stop showing you those videos. The algorithm does work it's just kind of like a 7-year-old.
- kingTug 5y ago
  Same here, 95% of my YT consumption is related to advanced music theory. The (constant) ads that drive me up a wall are the "learn to play guitar" services that feature children practicing their first guitar notes. Ive heard this from other musicians too - the algorithm thinks everyone is a novice.
ashtonkem 5y ago
What’s particularly fascinating is how there is an almost complete absence of a leftist equivalent on YT. There are some leftist channels here and there, but you’re not going to get bombarded with communist ads after watching one video like you might on the right.
- rjbwork 5y ago
  It's strictly a function of funding and the economic power of the interested parties. Rich capitalists are, naturally, invested in promoting policies, ideologies, and politicians that will 1) keep them being rich capitalists and 2) make them richer capitalists. I don't know, but am fairly confident in stating, that there are not rich communists waging a communistic propaganda campaign in order to keep them being rich communists and making them richer communists. Certainly not in the Anglosphere, anyway.
  - ashtonkem 5y ago
    You’re not wrong, but leftists also tend to spend an inordinate amount of energy and resources fighting internecine battles rather than trying to convert others. This does make it rather hard to do things like run self-reinforcing YT campaigns, assuming YT would tolerate them.
- klyrs 5y ago
  I like to tell myself that's because real lefties adhere to the doctrine of Gil Scott Heron, The Revolution Will Not be Televised, even though they won't understand 99% of the cultural references
  - ashtonkem 5y ago
    I’m split between two causes myself. 1) The utter lack of support from monied interests. 2) The fact that leftists love nothing more than fighting slightly different types of other leftists.
    - klyrs 5y ago
      "I like to tell myself" isn't a strong indication of something that I actually believe. So, here goes 3) the radical left is a bogeyman and the reason you don't see many of them is that they're exceptionally rare. 4) radical leftists have better opsec after generations of actual persecution and censorship, and don't do youtube 5) I think tiktok is more popular with the left?
      - davidpires 5y ago
        In my country we still have a old school communist party, and despite their radical ideas like saying north Korea is a democracy or support maduro in Venezuela, when you hear their political campaign is all about raising minimum wage and a restricted House market. In the other way, when we look at the far right party, it's all about how the immigrants are eating tax money or defending a small government with a total control for one leader. So it's not that radical left doesn't exist, it's just that they drop their guns and what's left it's not that loud.
        klyrs 5y ago
        My apologies, that was written from a purely anglocentric perspective.
        5y ago

pohl 5y ago

I mostly consume guitar technique & music theory videos, yet I still see ads suggesting I might want to buy & bury a plastic tote full of MREs out in the wilderness just in case. Maybe it's because I live in Nebraska? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

da_chicken 5y ago
That's probably part of it, but you can tell YouTube to stop showing you those videos. The algorithm does work it's just kind of like a 7-year-old.
kingTug 5y ago
Same here, 95% of my YT consumption is related to advanced music theory. The (constant) ads that drive me up a wall are the "learn to play guitar" services that feature children practicing their first guitar notes. Ive heard this from other musicians too - the algorithm thinks everyone is a novice.

ashtonkem 5y ago

What’s particularly fascinating is how there is an almost complete absence of a leftist equivalent on YT. There are some leftist channels here and there, but you’re not going to get bombarded with communist ads after watching one video like you might on the right.

rjbwork 5y ago
It's strictly a function of funding and the economic power of the interested parties. Rich capitalists are, naturally, invested in promoting policies, ideologies, and politicians that will 1) keep them being rich capitalists and 2) make them richer capitalists. I don't know, but am fairly confident in stating, that there are not rich communists waging a communistic propaganda campaign in order to keep them being rich communists and making them richer communists. Certainly not in the Anglosphere, anyway.
- ashtonkem 5y ago
  You’re not wrong, but leftists also tend to spend an inordinate amount of energy and resources fighting internecine battles rather than trying to convert others. This does make it rather hard to do things like run self-reinforcing YT campaigns, assuming YT would tolerate them.
klyrs 5y ago
I like to tell myself that's because real lefties adhere to the doctrine of Gil Scott Heron, The Revolution Will Not be Televised, even though they won't understand 99% of the cultural references
- ashtonkem 5y ago
  I’m split between two causes myself. 1) The utter lack of support from monied interests. 2) The fact that leftists love nothing more than fighting slightly different types of other leftists.
  - klyrs 5y ago
    "I like to tell myself" isn't a strong indication of something that I actually believe. So, here goes 3) the radical left is a bogeyman and the reason you don't see many of them is that they're exceptionally rare. 4) radical leftists have better opsec after generations of actual persecution and censorship, and don't do youtube 5) I think tiktok is more popular with the left?
    - davidpires 5y ago
      In my country we still have a old school communist party, and despite their radical ideas like saying north Korea is a democracy or support maduro in Venezuela, when you hear their political campaign is all about raising minimum wage and a restricted House market. In the other way, when we look at the far right party, it's all about how the immigrants are eating tax money or defending a small government with a total control for one leader. So it's not that radical left doesn't exist, it's just that they drop their guns and what's left it's not that loud.
      - klyrs 5y ago
        My apologies, that was written from a purely anglocentric perspective.
        5y ago