Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by jjeaff 2437 days ago
They aren't. You are noticing videos that have a similarity to things you have talked about recently. It's the same phenomenon that occurs when you learn a new word, then all the sudden it starts popping up everywhere.
2 comments

The new word thing always amazes me.. you swear you never heard it before and invariably it shows up once or twice in the next few weeks at a minimum.

This is also a great talk on the magic of science and how magicians exploit flaws in our brain or sensors (e.g. the eyes) perceive and process the environment. One of his examples is that when your eyes are moving from one focus point to the next you are literally blind and don't see anything (basically to prevent motion blur) - but your brain fills in the missing info, and so you can hide sleight of hand in these moments. One of many examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwuRSqODRdA

There are also other explanations for this advertising thing such as you thinking about it because you saw it somewhere, having actually searched or clicked on things related to it and even if you talk to someone else and THEY search about it from the same IP address it can also end up in advertising feeds. And i'm sure many more.

There’s a name for it- Frequency illusion or Baader–Meinhof effect: (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baader%E2%80%93Meinhof_effec...)
No. This is not the case. It's not a new word or idea, it's a topic and content blocks that appear. Including items discussed in conversation appearing as a recommended video, despite being uploaded years ago. These are ephemeral recommendations cards that dissappear if there's no engagement at the next app launch.