4 ms·

Well... yeah. That's the whole point of the algorithm - figure out what you're into, and show more of it to you.

IceMetalPunk 4y ago
I was going to say. Recommendation algorithms across the internet work on the simple principal that "if they click these things or watch these things a lot, then they must like them, so we should recommend more of that to them because they'll like our recommendations". So if people are thinking the election was a fraud, they've probably clicked and watched those conspiracy nut videos, and the algorithm will spit more back at them. It's... how recommendations work.
mandmandam 4y ago
That's what you're told, but you don't know that. The algorithm is opaque. Even if the algo is fair to you, it could be devastating to the more feeble-minded.. And you would never know, until some clownish grifter caricature became leader of the free world, wink. Even then, how would you trace that critical little 2% vote shift back to a particular algorithm?
Ekaros 4y ago
They are doing exactly what they were designed and should do. That is showing the user type of content they are interested in. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.
- snsr 4y ago
  Except there is? Mass consumption of this particular flavor of garbage has real consequences.
  - samhyde69 4y ago
  - CardenB 4y ago
    Seems like a question of limiting consumption rather than the type of information though, right? Overconsumption has health consequences.
    - fknorangesite 4y ago
      The recommendation algorithm is also designed for overconsumption.
  - calculatte 4y ago
    Like a special flavor of propaganda with political and corporate support that created a movement to burn down cities, loot stores, murder innocent people? That kind of thing?
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  The "problem" (if it's real, which I think it is) is that youtube's recommendations don't show you more "skepticism" content, but will continually try to push you further down rabbit holes. It works great if you are learning and suddenly interested in woodworking, but if you don't trust government, it's just going to take you to all the crazy people saying (((they))) are trying to keep you down and that's why your life is bad and you should hate and wish violence upon the people trying to "destroy your way of life". After owning the same very active youtube account since 2007, youtube finally tried to radicalize me a few months back. I watched a single video from a more radical leftist (I guess class solidarity-ist) channel, and the very next loading of the homepage was at least half extreme leftist and extreme far right channels, trying to tell me that "democrats are trying to kill millions of babies a year" and "republicans are trying to instate a theocracy tomorrow" and "why you shouldn't believe anything (((they))) tell you". Google has known my political affiliation and opinions for over a decade, and still tried to show me OAN stuff, because hey I'm radicalizable right now and that's pretty profitable. I've watched slightly leftist youtube videos for years now, and youtube never tried to radicalize me, but the second I dipped my toe into the dark and disgusting pool of extremism, that's all youtube wanted to show me. These videos were not meant to inform, but to enrage. The fact of the matter is that extremist content is just way better at activating much more extreme emotional responses, which fun story, leads to more engagement. So the algorithm LOVES pushing people towards extremeism, because it's super effective at doing what Daddy Google tells it to do, which is to get people more "engaged"
  - danaris 4y ago
    And it's worth noting (so I have been informed by multiple reputable sources) that the triple-parentheses construction is a common antisemitic dogwhistle—that is, the "they" there is implicitly "the Jews".
    - krapp 4y ago
      It's mostly used ironically now by Jews and allies but yes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_parentheses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_parentheses
raverbashing 4y ago
Yeah YT is a drug pusher. In the worse of ways I notice that the moment I watch a video slightly "off center" it goes full slippery slope on my recommendations. No kidding "Ah but this is what it should do". No, it shouldn't To not give a political example, this is like chasing and knocking on people's doors at dinner time with a full McD meal because you had a frozen yogurt in the afternoon
- IceMetalPunk 4y ago
  That's a poor analogy. You're going to the website, it's not coming to you, and you're given recommendations, not having them load and play the videos for you automatically. This is more like you buy a frozen yogurt at McDonald's in the afternoon, and when you return to McDonald's, the cashier asks if you'd like a McFlurry this time, and maybe to try a Big Mac combo?
  - raverbashing 4y ago
    > not having them load and play the videos for you automatically Well, but YT does exactly that with Autoplay (and the recommendations are based on the last video seen)

I was going to say. Recommendation algorithms across the internet work on the simple principal that "if they click these things or watch these things a lot, then they must like them, so we should recommend more of that to them because they'll like our recommendations". So if people are thinking the election was a fraud, they've probably clicked and watched those conspiracy nut videos, and the algorithm will spit more back at them. It's... how recommendations work.

mandmandam 4y ago

That's what you're told, but you don't know that. The algorithm is opaque. Even if the algo is fair to you, it could be devastating to the more feeble-minded.. And you would never know, until some clownish grifter caricature became leader of the free world, wink. Even then, how would you trace that critical little 2% vote shift back to a particular algorithm?

Ekaros 4y ago

They are doing exactly what they were designed and should do. That is showing the user type of content they are interested in. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

snsr 4y ago
Except there is? Mass consumption of this particular flavor of garbage has real consequences.
- samhyde69 4y ago
- CardenB 4y ago
  Seems like a question of limiting consumption rather than the type of information though, right? Overconsumption has health consequences.
  - fknorangesite 4y ago
    The recommendation algorithm is also designed for overconsumption.
- calculatte 4y ago
  Like a special flavor of propaganda with political and corporate support that created a movement to burn down cities, loot stores, murder innocent people? That kind of thing?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
mrguyorama 4y ago
The "problem" (if it's real, which I think it is) is that youtube's recommendations don't show you more "skepticism" content, but will continually try to push you further down rabbit holes. It works great if you are learning and suddenly interested in woodworking, but if you don't trust government, it's just going to take you to all the crazy people saying (((they))) are trying to keep you down and that's why your life is bad and you should hate and wish violence upon the people trying to "destroy your way of life". After owning the same very active youtube account since 2007, youtube finally tried to radicalize me a few months back. I watched a single video from a more radical leftist (I guess class solidarity-ist) channel, and the very next loading of the homepage was at least half extreme leftist and extreme far right channels, trying to tell me that "democrats are trying to kill millions of babies a year" and "republicans are trying to instate a theocracy tomorrow" and "why you shouldn't believe anything (((they))) tell you". Google has known my political affiliation and opinions for over a decade, and still tried to show me OAN stuff, because hey I'm radicalizable right now and that's pretty profitable. I've watched slightly leftist youtube videos for years now, and youtube never tried to radicalize me, but the second I dipped my toe into the dark and disgusting pool of extremism, that's all youtube wanted to show me. These videos were not meant to inform, but to enrage. The fact of the matter is that extremist content is just way better at activating much more extreme emotional responses, which fun story, leads to more engagement. So the algorithm LOVES pushing people towards extremeism, because it's super effective at doing what Daddy Google tells it to do, which is to get people more "engaged"
- danaris 4y ago
  And it's worth noting (so I have been informed by multiple reputable sources) that the triple-parentheses construction is a common antisemitic dogwhistle—that is, the "they" there is implicitly "the Jews".
  - krapp 4y ago
    It's mostly used ironically now by Jews and allies but yes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_parentheses https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_parentheses

raverbashing 4y ago

Yeah YT is a drug pusher. In the worse of ways I notice that the moment I watch a video slightly "off center" it goes full slippery slope on my recommendations. No kidding "Ah but this is what it should do". No, it shouldn't To not give a political example, this is like chasing and knocking on people's doors at dinner time with a full McD meal because you had a frozen yogurt in the afternoon

IceMetalPunk 4y ago
That's a poor analogy. You're going to the website, it's not coming to you, and you're given recommendations, not having them load and play the videos for you automatically. This is more like you buy a frozen yogurt at McDonald's in the afternoon, and when you return to McDonald's, the cashier asks if you'd like a McFlurry this time, and maybe to try a Big Mac combo?
- raverbashing 4y ago
  > not having them load and play the videos for you automatically Well, but YT does exactly that with Autoplay (and the recommendations are based on the last video seen)