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Why all the hate for Shorts? I think they serve a purpose i.e. when I don't have time to watch a full video, I can just watch a Short. Basically when I'm on m

by dottjt 3y ago

Why all the hate for Shorts? I think they serve a purpose i.e. when I don't have time to watch a full video, I can just watch a Short. Basically when I'm on my computer, I don't watch Shorts. When I'm on my phone, and I have a few minutes to kill, but still want to learn something I'm interested in, I'll watch a Short.

karaterobot 3y ago
In that context, what's the difference between a Short and a regular video, only shorter?
UberFly 3y ago
From my perspective they're mostly low effort noise.
GuB-42 3y ago
It is the UI/UX. Shorts are not just videos that are short. It also come with a player where you can't go forwards and backwards, that autoplays through an algorithmically generated feed, optimized for retention. The system isn't designed for you to watch a short, in fact, it discourages it, it is designed so that you watch an endless stream of shorts.
- surgical_fire 3y ago
  > optimized for retention. Failed hard on me. Perhaps I am weird.
  - GuB-42 3y ago
    Didn't work for me either. My first reaction when I saw the new interface was "help, I want to get out!", and I have avoided even potentially interesting shorts for that reason. I ended up installing an extension that plays shorts like regular videos. There are certainly many "weirdos" like us, but YouTube (and TikTok) don't care. As long as it turns on more people than it turns off, it is a win for them. If there are enough weirdos, some smaller company may get interested and cater to that niche. In fact, I think it is how current tech giants may fail, by only focusing on the majority and dropping the niches, they may open themselves to a more nimble competitor that use these niches as a starting point to eat away their market share. Privacy is one such niche, but I think it is already an overcrowded market, plus, Apple is on it, so you can't rely on that alone. Maybe there is a niche for an anti-tiktok that can be exploited.
acdha 3y ago
The removal of choice. I wouldn’t mind if there was just a new type of content but they keep pushing it unsolicited: it’s like half of the homepage with auto-playing garbage (at least show stuff with good production values to sell the concept rather than someone incoherently waving a 2007 camera phone around) and you have to turn it off separately on every device and they turn it back on every few weeks anyway.
throwawa14223 3y ago
It's more to filter out on my way to a 7 hour history lecture.
bravetraveler 3y ago
I'm just not that interested in short-form content... in those spare moments I'm not even that interested in my phone. The real aggravating part is that Google has tried nearly everything, short of switching videos under my cursor, to sucker me into this instant-gratification loop. I'd be way less frustrated about the existence of Shorts if Google hadn't been so ham-fisted about them

by dottjt 3y ago

karaterobot 3y ago

In that context, what's the difference between a Short and a regular video, only shorter?

UberFly 3y ago

From my perspective they're mostly low effort noise.

GuB-42 3y ago

It is the UI/UX. Shorts are not just videos that are short. It also come with a player where you can't go forwards and backwards, that autoplays through an algorithmically generated feed, optimized for retention. The system isn't designed for you to watch a short, in fact, it discourages it, it is designed so that you watch an endless stream of shorts.

surgical_fire 3y ago
> optimized for retention. Failed hard on me. Perhaps I am weird.
- GuB-42 3y ago
  Didn't work for me either. My first reaction when I saw the new interface was "help, I want to get out!", and I have avoided even potentially interesting shorts for that reason. I ended up installing an extension that plays shorts like regular videos. There are certainly many "weirdos" like us, but YouTube (and TikTok) don't care. As long as it turns on more people than it turns off, it is a win for them. If there are enough weirdos, some smaller company may get interested and cater to that niche. In fact, I think it is how current tech giants may fail, by only focusing on the majority and dropping the niches, they may open themselves to a more nimble competitor that use these niches as a starting point to eat away their market share. Privacy is one such niche, but I think it is already an overcrowded market, plus, Apple is on it, so you can't rely on that alone. Maybe there is a niche for an anti-tiktok that can be exploited.

acdha 3y ago

The removal of choice. I wouldn’t mind if there was just a new type of content but they keep pushing it unsolicited: it’s like half of the homepage with auto-playing garbage (at least show stuff with good production values to sell the concept rather than someone incoherently waving a 2007 camera phone around) and you have to turn it off separately on every device and they turn it back on every few weeks anyway.

throwawa14223 3y ago

It's more to filter out on my way to a 7 hour history lecture.

bravetraveler 3y ago

I'm just not that interested in short-form content... in those spare moments I'm not even that interested in my phone. The real aggravating part is that Google has tried nearly everything, short of switching videos under my cursor, to sucker me into this instant-gratification loop. I'd be way less frustrated about the existence of Shorts if Google hadn't been so ham-fisted about them