I want something like AdBlocker extensions but for replacing algorithms of these social media platforms. It can be community driven so I can select “give me scientifically proven posts” algorithm or “non political stuff” algorithm.
I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time
51–60 of 159 posts
Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time
#52This is awesome. So it errs on the side of hiding good content that you would want to see, while YouTube's algorithm errs on the side of showing you clickbait.
I would absolutely love this as a browser add-on. My current approach to avoiding distraction on YouTube is an add-on called "Remove YouTube Recommended Videos, Comments" which does exactly what its title says it does, but leaves the actual YouTube page quite bare
Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time
#53The 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 bomb…
I have two YouTube accounts I use, for watching in different languages.
In one language, the suggestions are pretty good. I've found plenty of new stuff that I otherwise wouldn't have.
In the other, it basically recommends a mix that is 80% videos from my subscriptions that I've already watched 10+ times and 20% new stuff that I just don't have any interest in. I wonder if there is some sort of failure mode I'm hitting.
Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time
#54The 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.
Just because someone has an opinion counter to the Hacker News hivemind doesn't mean they are faking it.
In this case, I'd imagine this is a case where the people who have a bad experience with the YouTube suggestion algorithm have a reason to speak up but the people who are having a fine experience do not.
Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time
#55Instead 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
Since your code is already hosted on GitHub you could also try using GitHub Actions with a scheduled trigger. https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/actions/refe...
Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time
#56This inspired me to think: would it be possible to employ an opposite approach - negative selection. Develop a browser extension that hides bad results (based on smart filters) instead of trying to guess the best?
really interesting suggestion, I like it what do you think would be good markers of a bad video? other than the obvious (clickbait terms, repetitive/generic titles), I'm not sure what could work. any suggestions?
Personally GRAPE content (Guns / Religion / Abortion / Politics / environment) especially from opinion news sources.
I notice that when I consume these content I never end up feeling better than when I started regardless of whether I agree / disagree with them. Also a huge time sink.
Also, entertainment content about celebrities like the kardashians.
Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time
#57I wish the author would also do this for PeerTube.
Ah, good suggestion! Let me look at what I can get from their API
https://sepiasearch.org/ might provide a better API for you.
Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time
#58I find youtube recommendations on homepage really interesting. So much that I wish that article suggestions by Google in Android left side window were as good.
I mostly watch tech, games, dev, toys etc. including rocket jump, Siggraph, viva LA dirt league, corridor, Tom Scott, Vertassium, Steve mould, numberphile etc.
I almost always end up finding something interesting to watch. When it's not, I either mark it as 'not interested' or leave a dislike and it becomes good again
Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time
#59I really wish youtube allowed me to block channels, so over time the quality of videos I do see improves.
Re: I created an alternative to the YouTube algorithm to stop me wasting time
#60I really wish youtube allowed me to block channels, so over time the quality of videos I do see improves.
You can block channels. It's in the same three-dot menu that lets you remove individual videos.