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YouTube recommendations make me incredibly sad, to the point where I start to lose hope for humanity. I know that's a strange thing to say but bear with me. My

YouTube recommendations make me incredibly sad, to the point where I start to lose hope for humanity. I know that's a strange thing to say but bear with me. My web browser blocks all cookies and therefore no matter how often I visit YouTube, it thinks I'm a brand new user. The video recommendations I see are therefore YouTube's "default" set; presumably what's trending at the time. The recommended videos are, without exception, pure trash. We're talking everything from Buzzfeed-level clickbait with blatantly Photoshopped thumbnails to the lowest-effort softcore-porn-level sensationalist crap which is mostly composed of lobotomised talking heads, mouths agog, "reacting" to other people's content. Quite often YouTube presents starkly contrasting recommendations, for example a video of violent combat footage right next to some kids dancing, or stuff like this elegant pairing of the sexualisation of women next to some cUtE pUpPiEs: https://i.imgur.com/TcxhVhH.jpg https://i.imgur.com/TcxhVhH.jpg It's psychopathic.

shpx 3y ago
The recommender is actually trying to get you to scroll the recommendations for as long as possible, not show you a useful/good video. On mobile they show you an ad every 5 recommendations, which is more ads per minute than if you watch an ad then a long video.
cubefox 3y ago
You're not supposed to say that out loud, but that type of content must be what appeals to the average people. Which says a lot about their intelligence. Smart people overestimate how smart other people are. See https://www.unz.com/akarlin/stupid-people/ https://www.unz.com/akarlin/stupid-people/
- shrimp_emoji 3y ago
  I used to think so too, but I've met people smarter than I am who legit binge watch cute puppy videos for a basal emotional high they enjoy, just like a lot of other people can't help but impulsively wanna see a volleyball athlete's crotch. It's junk food; people are programmed to love it regardless of intelligence.
  - cubefox 3y ago
    It seems plausible that there is at least a moderate correlation between low IQ and watching these videos.
astura 3y ago
Based on the kinds of things that are most popular on YouTube I believe that the majority of YouTube watchers are children or intellectually disabled people.

shpx 3y ago

The recommender is actually trying to get you to scroll the recommendations for as long as possible, not show you a useful/good video. On mobile they show you an ad every 5 recommendations, which is more ads per minute than if you watch an ad then a long video.

cubefox 3y ago

You're not supposed to say that out loud, but that type of content must be what appeals to the average people. Which says a lot about their intelligence. Smart people overestimate how smart other people are. See https://www.unz.com/akarlin/stupid-people/ https://www.unz.com/akarlin/stupid-people/

shrimp_emoji 3y ago
I used to think so too, but I've met people smarter than I am who legit binge watch cute puppy videos for a basal emotional high they enjoy, just like a lot of other people can't help but impulsively wanna see a volleyball athlete's crotch. It's junk food; people are programmed to love it regardless of intelligence.
- cubefox 3y ago
  It seems plausible that there is at least a moderate correlation between low IQ and watching these videos.

astura 3y ago

Based on the kinds of things that are most popular on YouTube I believe that the majority of YouTube watchers are children or intellectually disabled people.