[mattlondon]

I felt slightly uneasy myself - the first thing I saw was a mum laying on her bed doing a selfie-video with two small kids (probably between 2 and 4 years old) singing a song to daddy.

That felt like a total invasion of their private lives.

I've had the same videos from my own kids, and while there is nothing embarrassing or shameful about it, it's not something I'd want broadcasted. Maybe it hit a nerve for me as it is so very very similar to my own life right now. Sure yeah they uploaded it to YouTube and it's public but it still felt wrong to watch that.

Kinda ruined my day a bit - feel kinda bad for viewing it.

[kevinsync]

That slight unease used to permeate the entire internet (and made it exciting and genuinely thrilling!), and now that you've articulated it out loud it makes me think it's a critical missing part to all those "nostalgia for the old web" thinkpieces people love to write these days. Granted, I was a teenager in the 90's literally growing up into the world as the web grew up around me, so there was slight unease in all aspects of life, but that feeling of the unknown, of not totally being sure what you're going to discover (good or bad) when you surf from link to link, maybe that's really what's missing in the sanitized, commodified 2024 internet.

Or maybe I'm just overthinking it lol

[wholinator2]

Nah, i agree. I'm a little younger but i distinctly remember adults around me heavily warning about using the internet and especially putting anything about yourself into it. There was a great distrust between people and the internet in the early 2000's, but then kids got ipods that could text and call, and network effects meant that you _had_ to be on Facebook, and slowly over time Facebook and MySpace started to not feel like the danger zone, like it was separate from all those warnings cause it was just you and your friends chatting at 2:00a.m., nobody was gonna bother to look at you. Then the social media empires grew and expanded and it kinda became the entire internet (that people use) started to feel like not the danger zone. You could do anything there, and huge company's would create walled gardens that would hide the worst aspects and let you pretend it was a safe and open place, to their benefit of course. Adults stopped warning, kids became adults, and now to hear a warning about the internet is incredibly rare. We also just think that there's so much shit there, nobody would take the time to notice us, and everyone else is posting their entire lives anyways so why not? Strange times

[johnisgood]

I wonder if the no warning part is a consequence of too much moderation, so people think everything or most thing is so moderated it no longer warrants a warning?

[fsflover]

> but that feeling of the unknown, of not totally being sure what you're going to discover (good or bad) when you surf from link to link, maybe that's really what's missing in the sanitized, commodified 2024 internet.

https://wiby.me search engine brings that feelings back.

[mannycalavera42]

this.

this site felt like browsing the small web - just in video mode for someone like me that got derailed by into all the walled garden hubs of the modern enterprise-web felt refreshing and, yeh, 90' nostalgic

[BlueTemplar]

Hmmm, YouTube is clearly part of the new web though... and this seems to be very similar to TikTok ?

[mdanger007]

Ruined your day? Although it is undoubtedly tech voyeurism the fact that these observations occur in every day life and don’t violate people’s privacy I would just like to invite you to get out more.

[supplied_demand]

==occur in every day life and don’t violate people’s privacy==

Plenty of things happen in every day life, but are private (sex, break-ups, proposals, Dr. visits, etc.). I also noticed lots of these videos have people in the background. I doubt they were they notified that a video was being taken and uploaded publicly.

==I would just like to invite you to get out more.==

Maybe an alternative is to invite yourself to ask questions about why there are multiple comments with the same sentiment rather than reflexively telling them how to feel/act?

[Dylan16807]

> multiple comments with the same sentiment

Multiple comments saying it felt creepy or multiple comments saying it ruined their day to any extent? Those aren't the same thing.

[supplied_demand]

There is literally a comment thanking the person who made the original comment because they felt the exact same way.

==Thanks - that's exactly how I felt after watching a view videos==

The original comment was a long explanation that ended with: ==Kinda ruined my day a bit==

Seems like pretty tame language to get worked up about, I see two qualifiers in merely 6 words.

[kelnos]

I suppose the person upthread could have been exaggerating or using hyperbole for effect, but it seems a bit much for something like this to "ruin your day".

Having said that, it also seems like a bit much for that other commenter to find it worth policing their feelings like that.

[Dylan16807]

Without more clarification, I am unsure about whether feeling the same applies to the day ruining or just the direct reaction.

> Seems like pretty tame language to get worked up about, I see two qualifiers in merely 6 words.

I don't think anyone here is worked up.

[mdanger007]

Are we watching the same YouTube clips?

[supplied_demand]

I think by definition, we are not watching the same Youtube clips. Isn't that how the app works?

[mdanger007]

I don’t know if you intentionally take my point out of context, but the man was arguing that it ruined his day because there were such things as sex in these random clips.

[supplied_demand]

It's possible you got lost in the comment thread. I said one of those things and the original commentor said the other.

--The original commentor said that it "kinda ruined their day a bit" and felt a little intrusive.

--Then someone responded by saying that is was just things that occur in every day life and doesn't violate anyone's privacy.

--Then I responded to clarify that things which occur in every day life can still be intrusive to privacy i.e. sex, breakups, drug use, etc.

I did not say that people were having sex in these clips, nor did the original commentor.

[mattlondon]

I don't think it is invading their privacy-with-a-big-P (after all I have no idea who these people are or where the lived etc), it is more just socially it felt inappropriate.

I think if a young family was sat on a park bench doing this and you went and sat on the bench between the mother and the father it would be considered at the least incredibly rude and inappropriate. Even if they are in a public place and you are not technically violating any laws, you'd still be acting in a way that most people would disagree with.

This is what it felt like to me.

[johnnyanmac]

>if a young family was sat on a park bench doing this and you went and sat on the bench between the mother and the father it would be considered at the least incredibly rude and inappropriate.

context is everything in public settings. Was it a tired old man on a cane that clearly needed to sit down? clearly it's rude for the couple to at least not scoot over. is the bench super long? there's probably no real beef as long as you're not directly sitting in their personal space.

In this case, these are clips uploaded over a decade ago for one reason or another. Realistically it's the same case-by-case. In general I don't really feel any guilt per se.

[hoten]

If I can tweak the metaphor, it's more like sitting on a vantage point within the park and peering at them with binoculars, far enough away that they can't see. It's still ick but definitely intrudes on them far less.

[fluoridation]

No, it's more like someone took a photo of themselves to show to their family, and after they were done with it they left it on a bench in a park (perhaps not realizing that the photo wouldn't magically go away on its own), and a long long time afterwards someone happened to stumble upon it and look at it.

[mdanger007]

Yes! This is the nuance I’m looking for. There are issues with corporations exploiting our private lives and data but if one were to find someone’s family photo album left sitting around it doesn’t seem horrible to me to take a look.

[lukan]

"don’t violate people’s privacy"

Did you asked the kids in the videos (who are grownups or teenagers now) if they are ok with random strangers watching their kids life?

Also I would doubt, that most people were aware, that they were uploading the video to the general public.

So there are surely worse things going on, but I also felt uneasy after watching such private videos.

[fluoridation]

>Did you asked the kids in the videos (who are grownups or teenagers now) if they are ok with random strangers watching their kids life?

>Also I would doubt, that most people were aware, that they were uploading the video to the general public.

Those sentences are working against each other. You don't need to ask for permission to observe something in public. That's what makes the public sphere public; that there are restrictions and expectations in the private sphere that don't exist in the public sphere. If someone mistakenly believes they're in private when they're not, that's unfortunate for them. It's their responsibility to know where they are, not your responsibility to act according to their expectation. You're not obligated to avert your gaze if someone walks out in public not wearing pants by mistake. Is it polite to do it? Sure. Is it wrong not to do it? No.

[lukan]

"Those sentences are working against each other. "

Not when the topic is privacy. This is not someone walking in public, those are videos out of private homes. Just because someone uploaded something, does not mean he had

a) the rights to do so (I saw a clip where a women asked a bit angry, are you making a movie?)

B) was aware what he is doing

(Google and co do have a incentive to mislead people about who will be able to access data)

So it might be technical legal. It if is moral, is up to yourself to decide.

[fluoridation]

>This is not someone walking in public, those are videos out of private homes.

Yes, it's like someone watching a private video on their phone while on the train. You don't have a right to not have someone looking over your shoulder if you do that. While out in public you have implicit permission to look over someone else's shoulder because that's what "public" means. Public means the absence of privacy.

>a) the rights to do so (I saw a clip where a women asked a bit angry, are you making a movie?)

>B) was aware what he is doing

Both are the problem of whoever took the video and/or uploaded it, not of the person watching it later.

[lukan]

Erm, it depends. If you have to go out of your way, to look into my screen, than no, not ok.

But if I have my screen careless in the open, that is on me.

[mdanger007]

If your issue is the unwitting use of people’s images for corporate profit I think we can agree that especially irksome when it’s children. But does it ruin your day or seeing especially exploitative to see a child at a petting zoo or celebrating their birthday like maybe one in a dozen clip show or is there room for nuance?

[arethuza]

Thanks - that's exactly how I felt after watching a view videos - I came away feeling a bit disturbed - largely because the things I watched were very wholesome but also very private.

[stronglikedan]

> very private

very explicitly uploaded with the intent that others would see it

[latexr]

We don’t know that. As per the webpage, this could’ve been uploaded directly from the Photos app on an iPhone, by people who didn’t really understand the consequences. Maybe they uploaded it and thought they’d get a private link to share with one specific person. Most people are not tech savvy and don’t fully understand the possible ramifications of their sharing.

[dimator]

The fact that many of these have exactly 0 views makes it totally plausible that the uploaders had no idea that this video existed.

[steve_adams_86]

I can imagine people thinking "YouTube" was a video service for You, indicating that you'd be uploading something private for You to share as desired.

It sounds crazy now, but having worked with people a lot to make software that makes sense to them, this... Is not far fetched in the slightest.

[dan353hehe]

Yeah I just got a video of an infant taking a bath. I have small kids my self so nothing new, but not something I would want on the internet for everyone to see. And I doubt that the mom, and now the teenager who was the kid, would want broadcast everywhere.

[kelnos]

The entire point of this webpage (and the article that inspired it) was to wonder and suggest that many of the people posting these things may not have realized they were posting it publicly, thinking that "Post to YouTube" meant that they were putting it somewhere online where it would be easier to -- privately -- share with specific people they wanted to share it with.

Given the time frame and the newness of the iPhone and that entire model of interacting with media and the internet, I think it's pretty likely that many of those videos were published without the understanding that anyone would be able to view them.

Regardless of my guess on this, you can't assume to know what anyone's intent is, especially someone you don't know who posted something on the internet over a decade ago.

[supplied_demand]

The world was a lot different 15 years ago, both YouTube and iPhones were new and not full understood by the average person. Anyone who has designed a UI knows that not all actions are explicit.

[wholinator2]

In addition to the other replies, I've seen a few videos that we obviously created by very young children playing with a relatives phone. I can't easily imagine an informed adult choosing to send these nonsense random videos to YouTube but i can easily imagine a 5 year old poking around and just following the prompts. Some had 0 views as well so likely no one knows these were uploaded at all

[efdee]

More likely: uploaded with the intent that a very limited audience would see it, thinking it would drown in the pool of videos uploaded to YouTube or maybe not even aware that other people could stumble upon it.

[ivanjermakov]

I wonder what percentage of iPhone users in 2009 knew what "upload to YouTube" means. I doubt that there was a huge alert disclosing that this makes video publicly available.

[manmal]

I think, back then, many people didn’t realize their videos are going to be available to the whole world. They might have uploaded them just to send a link to relatives, and fumbled or missed the privacy toggle. Lots of very private videos on there.

[johnisgood]

I have seen recently uploaded videos (or reels, or "tiktoks") which were intentional... Shit's wild. People now know, yet... They sometimes do the most disgusting shit ever for the attention (likes, views).

[nkrisc]

Because the truth is it’s likely that most of these were never meant to be public. People will say that it’s the fault of the user and thus there is no guilt attributable to the viewer, but I sincerely doubt most of these users knew they were making it public and may not have if they knew.

While I don’t think intentionally surfacing these videos is wrong in any legal sense of course, I think it’s wrong ethically.

Exploiting someone’s mistake in this manner is not noble.

It’s the same reason we (good folk) look away when someone’s clothing accidentally reveals more than they intended, though it would be within our right to look.

I choose not to view these because I don’t believe it was intended that I should, and without the consent of the creator I chose to err on the side of decency.

[gosub100]

I think that comparing children to private parts or intimacy is a symptom of the current hysteria about pedophilia. We are so conditioned to wanting to protect children and being terrified of being accused of being a pedo yourself. It's probably how the Salem witch hysteria was. What if it's possible to see children simply as smaller people, and not jump to hysterics upon seeing people in their family? If there was a naked kid in the bathtub or something you could report it (they have AI that can detect this anyway).

[nkrisc]

I think that’s a long distance record for leaps in reasoning.

[johnnyanmac]

a lot of these unethical arguments veer on this idea that creating an account and publishing online content in this early smartphone era was some foreign concept. I don't subscribe that even in 2006 that people were that internet illiterate.

people didn't change, our perception of the internet changed (for better and worse). I still see enough people posting intimate stuff way past my boundaries that I think this is simply how some people are wired. I'd definitely wager that 90% of the people who I'd notify of this in some sort of census would not bother to delete/unlist these videos.

[Shocka1]

Well said. Although cool in a technical sense, I can't get myself to open the site because of ethical reasons. However, in my younger more ego driven coding days I would have looked at it like a really fun challenge and a chance to show everyone my skills. The ethics of it would have been an afterthought.

[stronglikedan]

> That felt like a total invasion of their private lives.

Except they literally explicitly uploaded it to YT.

[rescripting]

At the time this was probably the one of the most convenient ways to share videos with loved ones. It wouldn't cross your mind that these videos were "public" because no one had the link but you.

I'm sure it never crossed their mind that 15 years later an aggregator would be resurfacing them.

[recursive]

Is there a more convenient way now? Not being sarcastic, but it's still pretty damn convenient.

[jonny_eh]

I use Google Photos. Apple Photos would work too. Or any of the messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.

[85392_school]

These days you can unlist the video.

[throwawayq3423]

YOu think people know how to do that? Or even remember their content is there for all to see?

[johnnyanmac]

I don't think most people care to be honest. Dive into enough small accounts on instagram sharing their entire life story and you start to have a different perception on the ethical quandries.

The quandry is that people feel insignifigant and don't care if a dozen strangers see their posts.

[jonny_eh]

That was possible then too, but took an extra step. Defaults are important.

[kelnos]

Who says it was explicit? They may have done so without understanding the implications.

Your insistence that people did this intentionally, fully understanding what they were doing, is pretty weird. You have no idea why people uploaded these, what their level of technical proficiency was when they did so, or what they understood about the availability of the videos they posted.

Maybe don't claim to read people's minds, and be open to the idea that people do things for a variety of reasons, and often don't consider (or even know that they should consider) the implications of everything they do.

[johnnyanmac]

> They may have done so without understanding the implications.

this may have even been pre-Google, so yes. You would have needed to create a youtube account, sign its TOS, and then press the corresponding options to upload a video to the internet. I don't think even back then people just auto-uploaded everything on heir phone; YT had pretty strict limits at that time anyway.

[jnovek]

I think it’s also a reminder that the internet felt so much safer in 2010.

My sister (who is apparently wiser than most of us) has always refused to sharing pictures and videos of her kids on the internet and in 2010 that felt very old-fashioned. Now, because the internet feels so much more dangerous, it’s become a completely normal take.

[vel0city]

My wife and I have been pretty mindful about what we share on even quasi-public social networks when it relates to our kids. Luckily there's a decent number of platforms/apps out there which make it easy to share with family without making stuff public.

Sadly that doesn't stop family from reposting from those more private platforms to public social media...

[throwaway2037]

    > Luckily there's a decent number of platforms/apps out there which make it easy to share with family without making stuff public.

Can you share some examples?

[vel0city]

The one we ended up settling on was Family Album. It's been a pretty good platform and a lot of our family didn't have a problem getting on it. We've been using it for several years now. Prints purchased through the platform have generally been top notch as well.

https://family-album.com/

I forget the other competitors in this space as its been a few years since we last looked into it.

[theodric]

First video I got was some happy people (families, by the sound of it) popping off a few rounds at the range with AR-15s. My day has been improved!

[itisit]

Funny you say that because flipping through a few videos on the site just now, I came across one of a young child (say 2yo) playing nude in the pool. I reported it, of course.

[jonny_eh]

Link? :P