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by q-base 1535 days ago
Does YouTube actually work for someone? I bit the bullet after not really giving any other input than what I watched and started marking "Not interested" or "Don't recommend channel" but I cannot see that it has had any effect at all it keeps recommending rubbish "sensationalist" videos.

I know that they probably optimize for ads etc. but if they actually showed me videos I would like to see, then I would spend more time on the platform.
2 comments
dr_kiszonka 1535 days ago
These sensationalist videos are a plague for me. It only takes watching two or three regular videos on a specific topic for YouTube to hone in on it and start populating my feed with them. I find it very disappointing that they exist in every area that I am interested in, including relatively niche ones like functional programming and mechanical keyboards. Although, I have yet to come across a sensationalist video about prolog ;)
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q-base 1534 days ago
I have the exact same experience. I want to spend time on the platform and I can find videos that I like and would have loved for the algorithm to find for me, but I really have to search very thoroughly for them myself.
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charcircuit 1535 days ago
Yes, it works great for me. I don't really use the negative feedback. Most recommendation I guess are new uploads from creators I like or videos I haven't watched from creators I like. It shows me videos from unknown creators to me that match my interests as they go viral. It shows some random old videos that just randomly go viral again. It's a good experience.
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q-base 1534 days ago
That's interesting and perhaps I should not be that surprised. If it did not work at all, then they would probably have changed it. Their KPI is probably ad revenue, but still if it worked for no one, then I would expect their revenue to decline as people spend their time elsewhere. But then again, where will you go and watch medium to long videos created by "normal" people? Vimeo? Perhaps youtube's interactions are despite their algorithm and not because.
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charcircuit 1534 days ago
>ad revenue

Not directly, most people believe they optimize for session time. It tries to serve you a result that will keep you on the platform watching videos as opposed to needing to keep scrolling or leaving the platform. They truely do want to serve the best videos that they can to you that they think you will be interested in watching. Thankfully for YouTube you watching videos and YouTube getting ad rev is correlated.

>where will you go and watch medium to long videos created by "normal" people?

No one forces you to watch that format of video. You can go on TikTok, Twitch, Netflix, etc and be entertained.

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