I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time • Hacker News Board

Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time

#21

Post by mromanuk » Mon, Nov 23, 2020, 8:10 PM UTC

typicalbender wrote: post #7

It looks like I have to pay for Medium premium in order to read this story... can anyone give me a tl;dr? Or it looks like I can use Google cache text only to get around the paywall but that seems sub-par.

To avoid this type of spam or paywall:

  1. Open it with Incognito
  2. Setup and forget: use https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome (also for firefox)
  3. using a website like outline: https://outline.com/7eq6fK

(this one has the article)

Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time

#22

Post by mod » Mon, Nov 23, 2020, 8:17 PM UTC

Instead of the lambda workflow, you could just stick it on a server in a cron job. I pretty much do that with a bunch of things on DigitalOcean, although there's a ton of comparable services.

Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time

#23

Post by ChrisLovejoy » Mon, Nov 23, 2020, 8:22 PM UTC

mod wrote: post #22

Instead of the lambda workflow, you could just stick it on a server in a cron job. I pretty much do that with a bunch of things on DigitalOcean, although there's a ton of comparable services.

ah okay, thanks. Yeah I think I may have over-complicated things by trying to use lambda. Will look into doing this on DO

Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time

#24

Post by EricE » Mon, Nov 23, 2020, 8:25 PM UTC

ChrisLovejoy wrote: post #11

typicalbender wrote: post #7

It looks like I have to pay for Medium premium in order to read this story... can anyone give me a tl;dr? Or it looks like I can use Google cache text only to get around the paywall but that seems sub-par.

Didn't realise Medium was like this - I've just uploaded the article to my personal blog: https://chrislovejoy.me/youtube-algorithm/ Am going to see if I can update the link above aswell.

Thank you - I was getting the same from Medium. Just slightly less pernicious than Facebook. Slightly.

Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time

#25

Post by pantelisk » Mon, Nov 23, 2020, 8:26 PM UTC

The youtube algorithm is working extremely well, to the point where I find hard to believe it does not have any human in the loop or active moderation.

I have discovered so many interesting types of music and documentaries and subculture/subgenres on it. It manages to hit my interests so well, that I rarely go to netflix nor spotify anymore for discovery. I 'll either directly go watch something that I 've chosen on amazon prime, or let the youtube algorithm handle recommendations. (I know this reads like a fake review - but I swear I have no affiliation for youtube btw. Just amazed how well their recommendation engine works)

Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time

#26

Post by polycaster » Mon, Nov 23, 2020, 8:29 PM UTC

holyDictionary wrote: post #18

ChrisLovejoy wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

interesting - sounds like you've had good results so far?

In my experience the YouTube algorithm is very easily manipulated. Just scroll through your feed and select "not interested" for what you dislike. The type of content changes very quickly.

Over the years I’ve probably „blocked“ every single term from the Star Wars universe. Yet as soon as the next iteration of the franchise approaches box offices I find myself flooded with the most absurd cross-marketing videos you can imagine. Not talking about (official) ads. I have the strong impression the algorithm either takes ad campaigns into account — or is being abused by advertisers very successfully.

Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time

#27

Post by Krasnol » Mon, Nov 23, 2020, 8:29 PM UTC

pantelisk wrote: post #25

The youtube algorithm is working extremely well, to the point where I find hard to believe it does not have any human in the loop or active moderation. I have discovered so many interesting types of music and documentaries and subculture/subgenres on it. It manages to hit my interests so well, that I rarely go to netflix nor spotify anymore for discovery. I 'll either directly go watch something that I 've chosen on…

It really does sound like a fake review.

Especially considering the fact that you did not even attempt outlining what the reason might be why so many others have the opposite experience.

Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time

#28

Post by gylterud » Mon, Nov 23, 2020, 8:33 PM UTC

I found YouTube suggestions to be generally useless, so I have just disabled the suggestion sidebar completely[0]. Leaves more screen space for the video.

The reason I found them useless is that the suggestions were too specialised. I usually do not want to watch a dozen videos on the same topic. I usually want to watch one high quality video about it, then move on. Same with channels. I do not want to follow ten channels about each of my hobbies. One channel or two high quality ones is enough.

So, even though the linked project is super cool from a technical perspective, I am not sure how the algorithm could be improved to attend to my taste.

[0]: https://hakon.gylterud.net/tutorials/youtube.html (YouTube self-defence)

Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time

#29

Post by stingraycharles » Mon, Nov 23, 2020, 8:37 PM UTC

pantelisk wrote: post #25

The youtube algorithm is working extremely well, to the point where I find hard to believe it does not have any human in the loop or active moderation. I have discovered so many interesting types of music and documentaries and subculture/subgenres on it. It manages to hit my interests so well, that I rarely go to netflix nor spotify anymore for discovery. I 'll either directly go watch something that I 've chosen on…

Are you for real?

YouTube seems to do terrible at the recommendations. It cannot even recognize that when I’m behind the computer, I’m not interested in watching documentaries and when I’m behind my Apple TV, I’m not interested in listening to music videos. It’s such basic stuff, let alone the actual recommendations; it just keeps rehashing the same channels. “Oh you watched a video about the US elections, let’s bombard you with US election videos for the next 3 weeks”.

If I compare the music recommendations of YouTube versus Spotify, the latter is miles ahead. YouTube always seems to either descend into obscurity, or you’ll end up with the same old stuff, where Spotify seems to balance things out fairly nicely.

In all honesty, for all the AI expertise and “intellectual excellence” Google possesses in this area, I am surprised how bad they are doing here.

Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time

#30

Post by pantelisk » Mon, Nov 23, 2020, 8:42 PM UTC

Krasnol wrote: post #27

pantelisk wrote: post #25

The youtube algorithm is working extremely well, to the point where I find hard to believe it does not have any human in the loop or active moderation. I have discovered so many interesting types of music and documentaries and subculture/subgenres on it. It manages to hit my interests so well, that I rarely go to netflix nor spotify anymore for discovery. I 'll either directly go watch something that I 've chosen on…

It really does sound like a fake review. Especially considering the fact that you did not even attempt outlining what the reason might be why so many others have the opposite experience.

I don't know... honestly. I was extremely surprised. I was actually wondering if they switched to some level of human in the loop, because it used to suck in the past, but now is great. I expected people to have good experiences too. I 'm actually shocked to see how disappointed people are here...

Here's an example of some stuff that just showed up recently.

[1] Some guy camping an exploring an island that used to be a federal prison - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xnI1hZdltw

[2] A documentary about homeless people racing carts - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi-f_J6hV-g

[3] Fantastic funk music (and I don't even listen to funk!) - https://youtu.be/m1oLjnKeUiY?t=2

[4] Fantastic old school theatrical hard rock from Japan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbI79e5iZKs

[5] Sapolsky's must-see lecture on stress - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9H9qTdserM&t=112s (which I got recommended and was watching this morning in the background while I worked)

Just a random sample from stuff that popped up in the recent past. All the above captured my curiosity 100%. Maybe it's a personality thing, maybe I am eager to just discover novel stuff, that the quality level might not be the highest but the novel factor covers for it.