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> just pay for YouTube Premium This would imply signing-in. I don't sign in and reset the cookies regularly because I don't want my history tracked and suggest

> just pay for YouTube Premium This would imply signing-in. I don't sign in and reset the cookies regularly because I don't want my history tracked and suggestions personalized. But Okay, I would sign-in and pay, if every video page had a download button and the whole thing would give me an API exposing all the features reliably (so I could use it easily in 3-rd party players with search and suggestions).

donatj 4y ago
> I don't want my history tracked and suggestions personalized. I am genuinely curious, how do you find videos worth your time without recommendations? 99.9% of what’s on YouTube I have zero interest in, the recommendation engine is how I cull the noise and actually find things to watch.
- MiguelX413 4y ago
  One shouldn't go to YouTube to fill time, but to find something.
  - donatj 4y ago
    I think your time is far better spent on YouTube than Netflix
    - JohnFen 4y ago
      But it's even better spent doing neither.
    - MiguelX413 4y ago
      The same goes for anything.
- SL61 4y ago
  I'm not the person you replied to but: 1. I search for a topic and pick out a video that seems interesting. 2. I remember the names of the few YouTubers I like, and I look them up once in a while. I do actually have a YT account and I'm subscribed to some people, but I rarely bother to sign in. For me, YouTube is a platform for seeking content rather than a platform for being fed content (like HN or Twitter).
  - qwerty456127 4y ago
    In fact I have subscribed to some people also and that's because I've found them genuinely amazing. Nevertheless I only re-visit the channels once in some years - when happen to feel really bored. Even if I sign in I don't care about the feed, I only get to the videos to actually watch through ad-hoc searching and recommendations relevant to the specific video I watch.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  I've learned to completely ignore the recommendations because they tend to be terrible. Instead, I find videos through talking with friends, as well as when YouTubers I do watch recommend them. It works very well for me.
- kuschku 4y ago
  (I've got a youtube account, but have all history and tracking disabled, and although youtube obviously still tracks me, I never use autoplay or any recommendations) The same way as one did in the past: 1) search for something interesting, 2) look at the videos, 3) if you like a creator, subscribe to the RSS feed for their channel
  - qwerty456127 4y ago
    > if you like a creator, subscribe to the RSS feed for their channel I find this a totally unusable model to the point I don't understand who the heck pays for paywalled websites (for me it would be a waste because I would only read some 2.5 articles on the same website a year). I just search for a particular subject (maybe also specify the author) whenever I want/need and have time to watch/read something. Subscribe to someone and watch/read everything they would produce? Impossible, I don't have time for this. I watch many new (whom I have never seen previously and probably won't see in future although I liked them and they go on) creators every week.
    - kuschku 4y ago
      The point isn't to watch everything. The point is to have a curated list (or maybe even multiple lists) of content that you know you'll like. For a simpler example, take webcomics. I created a category in my RSS readers for the webcomics I like. If I feel bored and want to read a webcomic, I just open my reader, click that category, and immediately see the most recent one I haven't read yet. I can instantly get exactly what I want, without any recommendation engine attached. But I don't get any notifications – I only look at it when I feel like it. The same with youtube creators. If I feel like watching videos of a certain kind, I look at the channels I subscribed to of a certain topic, and see if they’ve got something interesting.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- qwerty456127 4y ago
  > I am genuinely curious, how do you find videos worth your time without recommendations? Not without recommendations. I just want the default recommendations directly related to the video I currently watch, ignoring what other videos I watched before. How do I find? I just search for a particular subject (maybe also specify the author) whenever I want/need and have time to watch/read something.
  - mgdlbp 4y ago
    Indeed, I find YouTube's recommendations are the most relevant and _interesting_ after navigating through a small number of videos within a focused theme in a fresh session. Any watch history, especially in multiple subjects, just seems to make for increasing blandness and disappointingly little connections between topics. Some prompt crafting-type technique of seeding the recommender with deliberate sequences of videos is probably possible. Youtube's system really is remarkably responsive to this kind of logged-out browsing, unlike most others. Tangentially, there's a lot of praise for TikTok on HN, but I've never found anything compelling there myself.
  - hombre_fatal 4y ago
    Just clear your Youtube viewing history from time to time if you want to reset recommendations based on your subscriptions. (In the History tab) Everyone should be doing this monthly anyways since YT recommendations along with your viewing trends can eventually get too narrow. Nice to reset it.
heresaPizza 4y ago
I guess google still has an idea of who you are. Since you don’t use the recommendations, you should try an alternative front end, so you don’t get tracked at all.

donatj 4y ago

> I don't want my history tracked and suggestions personalized. I am genuinely curious, how do you find videos worth your time without recommendations? 99.9% of what’s on YouTube I have zero interest in, the recommendation engine is how I cull the noise and actually find things to watch.

MiguelX413 4y ago
One shouldn't go to YouTube to fill time, but to find something.
- donatj 4y ago
  I think your time is far better spent on YouTube than Netflix
  - JohnFen 4y ago
    But it's even better spent doing neither.
  - MiguelX413 4y ago
    The same goes for anything.
SL61 4y ago
I'm not the person you replied to but: 1. I search for a topic and pick out a video that seems interesting. 2. I remember the names of the few YouTubers I like, and I look them up once in a while. I do actually have a YT account and I'm subscribed to some people, but I rarely bother to sign in. For me, YouTube is a platform for seeking content rather than a platform for being fed content (like HN or Twitter).
- qwerty456127 4y ago
  In fact I have subscribed to some people also and that's because I've found them genuinely amazing. Nevertheless I only re-visit the channels once in some years - when happen to feel really bored. Even if I sign in I don't care about the feed, I only get to the videos to actually watch through ad-hoc searching and recommendations relevant to the specific video I watch.
JohnFen 4y ago
I've learned to completely ignore the recommendations because they tend to be terrible. Instead, I find videos through talking with friends, as well as when YouTubers I do watch recommend them. It works very well for me.
kuschku 4y ago
(I've got a youtube account, but have all history and tracking disabled, and although youtube obviously still tracks me, I never use autoplay or any recommendations) The same way as one did in the past: 1) search for something interesting, 2) look at the videos, 3) if you like a creator, subscribe to the RSS feed for their channel
- qwerty456127 4y ago
  > if you like a creator, subscribe to the RSS feed for their channel I find this a totally unusable model to the point I don't understand who the heck pays for paywalled websites (for me it would be a waste because I would only read some 2.5 articles on the same website a year). I just search for a particular subject (maybe also specify the author) whenever I want/need and have time to watch/read something. Subscribe to someone and watch/read everything they would produce? Impossible, I don't have time for this. I watch many new (whom I have never seen previously and probably won't see in future although I liked them and they go on) creators every week.
  - kuschku 4y ago
    The point isn't to watch everything. The point is to have a curated list (or maybe even multiple lists) of content that you know you'll like. For a simpler example, take webcomics. I created a category in my RSS readers for the webcomics I like. If I feel bored and want to read a webcomic, I just open my reader, click that category, and immediately see the most recent one I haven't read yet. I can instantly get exactly what I want, without any recommendation engine attached. But I don't get any notifications – I only look at it when I feel like it. The same with youtube creators. If I feel like watching videos of a certain kind, I look at the channels I subscribed to of a certain topic, and see if they’ve got something interesting.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
qwerty456127 4y ago
> I am genuinely curious, how do you find videos worth your time without recommendations? Not without recommendations. I just want the default recommendations directly related to the video I currently watch, ignoring what other videos I watched before. How do I find? I just search for a particular subject (maybe also specify the author) whenever I want/need and have time to watch/read something.
- mgdlbp 4y ago
  Indeed, I find YouTube's recommendations are the most relevant and _interesting_ after navigating through a small number of videos within a focused theme in a fresh session. Any watch history, especially in multiple subjects, just seems to make for increasing blandness and disappointingly little connections between topics. Some prompt crafting-type technique of seeding the recommender with deliberate sequences of videos is probably possible. Youtube's system really is remarkably responsive to this kind of logged-out browsing, unlike most others. Tangentially, there's a lot of praise for TikTok on HN, but I've never found anything compelling there myself.
- hombre_fatal 4y ago
  Just clear your Youtube viewing history from time to time if you want to reset recommendations based on your subscriptions. (In the History tab) Everyone should be doing this monthly anyways since YT recommendations along with your viewing trends can eventually get too narrow. Nice to reset it.

heresaPizza 4y ago

I guess google still has an idea of who you are. Since you don’t use the recommendations, you should try an alternative front end, so you don’t get tracked at all.