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Can you please explain what this optimized video ecosystem of youtube is actually optimized for other than clickbait? Maybe it works for others but i fell into

Can you please explain what this optimized video ecosystem of youtube is actually optimized for other than clickbait? Maybe it works for others but i fell into this for a while and now i look at it in disgust.

keiferski 2y ago
Clickbait is a part of it, sure. But there are also many other content types that I wouldn’t characterize that way: 3+ hour long video podcasts, ambient music channels, niche indie musicians, short entertaining videos like Mr. Beast, etc. YouTube is increasingly a huge tent that includes tons of different kinds of content. My point was more that YouTube is increasingly designed for a world in which people have their devices everywhere and jump in and out of watching videos. Netflix isn’t, because it is still using the “old” model of sitting down for 30-200 minutes to watch a movie. I’m not saying that the film model is bad or somehow worth getting rid of - I love films myself - just that it’s probably not the future of video content for most people.
- HellDunkel 2y ago
  I can see this working for individuals but what about families? And although i dont feel thinking too much about netflixes business it raises the question if this would requre to adapt their model to an ad based model rather than subscription. Anyhow- i see a gigantic problem coming towards us caused by rapidly decreasing attention capacities and this does not help.
  - keiferski 2y ago
    Not sure what you mean by families, but I would be willing to bet that most families today already let their children watch more YouTube family content than Netflix content. And I do believe Netflix introduced a cheaper ad tier recently?
    - relaxing 2y ago
      Every parent I know forbids Youtube, for obvious reasons. Even the content on the Kids service is utter crap (I know several who tried the service and dropped it.)
      - keiferski 2y ago
        The app has 2.5 million reviews and 131 million downloads, so it is obviously used by a lot of parents. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1251942/global-youtube-kids-app-downloads/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1251942/global-youtube-k...
        binary132 2y ago
        we’ve all seen the people with the kid glued to youtube and clearly self-navigating. just because there are many people doing this doesn’t mean it’s a good thing.
        keiferski 2y ago
        I didn’t claim it was a good thing, I just said it was popular.
      - cloverich 2y ago
        (Also a parent) there are two ways to use Youtube. One is to let the child choose what to watch and, I agree, this is a disaster. There's no possible guardrails that would work with their current algorithmic models. The other is to find things they (or I) are interested in, particularly tutorials, and then watch them together and then apply that to real life. It is a fantastic tutorial device and my kids have learned how to do things I wouldn't have known how to do or teach myself. I don't think there is a better substitute for this use case.
      - scarface_74 2y ago
        Anecdote is not data. We have data https://www.statista.com/statistics/1301730/us-time-spent-children-video-apps/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1301730/us-time-spent-ch...
- binary132 2y ago
  Unfortunately all content is being optimized for increasingly brief attention spans and availability / focus.
  - keiferski 2y ago
    Interestingly it’s not all content. Super long videos are doing well too, particularly interviews and video podcasts.
    - ghaff 2y ago
      I assume some of this is the same trend of people putting long content on and half watching it in the background.
SkyPuncher 2y ago
Youtube still has massive variety and quality of production. I've largely been able to avoid the clickbait-optimized videos by curating my subscriptions. I've found about a dozen creators who's content I regularly watch. Many of them create YouTube videos as secondary to some other hobby or profession. Most are trending towards the clickbait thumbnail, but few are actually changing their content in that direction.
astura 2y ago
YouTube is optimized for unattended children.

keiferski 2y ago

Clickbait is a part of it, sure. But there are also many other content types that I wouldn’t characterize that way: 3+ hour long video podcasts, ambient music channels, niche indie musicians, short entertaining videos like Mr. Beast, etc. YouTube is increasingly a huge tent that includes tons of different kinds of content. My point was more that YouTube is increasingly designed for a world in which people have their devices everywhere and jump in and out of watching videos. Netflix isn’t, because it is still using the “old” model of sitting down for 30-200 minutes to watch a movie. I’m not saying that the film model is bad or somehow worth getting rid of - I love films myself - just that it’s probably not the future of video content for most people.

HellDunkel 2y ago
I can see this working for individuals but what about families? And although i dont feel thinking too much about netflixes business it raises the question if this would requre to adapt their model to an ad based model rather than subscription. Anyhow- i see a gigantic problem coming towards us caused by rapidly decreasing attention capacities and this does not help.
- keiferski 2y ago
  Not sure what you mean by families, but I would be willing to bet that most families today already let their children watch more YouTube family content than Netflix content. And I do believe Netflix introduced a cheaper ad tier recently?
  - relaxing 2y ago
    Every parent I know forbids Youtube, for obvious reasons. Even the content on the Kids service is utter crap (I know several who tried the service and dropped it.)
    - keiferski 2y ago
      The app has 2.5 million reviews and 131 million downloads, so it is obviously used by a lot of parents. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1251942/global-youtube-kids-app-downloads/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1251942/global-youtube-k...
      - binary132 2y ago
        we’ve all seen the people with the kid glued to youtube and clearly self-navigating. just because there are many people doing this doesn’t mean it’s a good thing.
        keiferski 2y ago
        I didn’t claim it was a good thing, I just said it was popular.
    - cloverich 2y ago
      (Also a parent) there are two ways to use Youtube. One is to let the child choose what to watch and, I agree, this is a disaster. There's no possible guardrails that would work with their current algorithmic models. The other is to find things they (or I) are interested in, particularly tutorials, and then watch them together and then apply that to real life. It is a fantastic tutorial device and my kids have learned how to do things I wouldn't have known how to do or teach myself. I don't think there is a better substitute for this use case.
    - scarface_74 2y ago
      Anecdote is not data. We have data https://www.statista.com/statistics/1301730/us-time-spent-children-video-apps/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1301730/us-time-spent-ch...
binary132 2y ago
Unfortunately all content is being optimized for increasingly brief attention spans and availability / focus.
- keiferski 2y ago
  Interestingly it’s not all content. Super long videos are doing well too, particularly interviews and video podcasts.
  - ghaff 2y ago
    I assume some of this is the same trend of people putting long content on and half watching it in the background.

SkyPuncher 2y ago

Youtube still has massive variety and quality of production. I've largely been able to avoid the clickbait-optimized videos by curating my subscriptions. I've found about a dozen creators who's content I regularly watch. Many of them create YouTube videos as secondary to some other hobby or profession. Most are trending towards the clickbait thumbnail, but few are actually changing their content in that direction.

astura 2y ago

YouTube is optimized for unattended children.