‘YouTube recommendations are toxic,’ says dev who worked on the algorithm (2019) • Hacker News Board

Re: ‘YouTube recommendations are toxic,’ says dev who worked on the algorithm (2019)

#11

Post by hackeraccount » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 12:30 PM UTC

I find youtube recommendations crap because if I watch something on one subject it seems to assume the subject is now the love of my life and proceeds to offer a zillion on just that subject.

regarding what the article is talking about ... eh, it seems like they're saying it works fine but sometimes puts up videos whose politics they don't like. Short of going in and removing the stuff you don't like so that other people won't get to see it I don't see how you fix this. It's presumably the same algorithm that's working most of the time that's surfacing the crap.

Re: ‘YouTube recommendations are toxic,’ says dev who worked on the algorithm (2019)

#12

Post by RavlaAlvar » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 12:31 PM UTC

thatishard wrote: post #3

My youtube sucks, I'm always looking for stuff to kill my time and youtube recommend the same crap videos 500 times in a row. It take a long time to find something I want to watch.

The trick is to actively tell YouTube what you don’t like, it work quite well for me.

Re: ‘YouTube recommendations are toxic,’ says dev who worked on the algorithm (2019)

#13

Post by kenniskrag » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 12:31 PM UTC

tsomctl wrote: post #4

thatishard wrote: post #3

My youtube sucks, I'm always looking for stuff to kill my time and youtube recommend the same crap videos 500 times in a row. It take a long time to find something I want to watch.

I've been loading the Youtube homepage every 15 minutes for the past week (I've been sick). It's the same videos over and over again. If I scrolled past it the first time, I'm still going to scroll past it the 100th time I see it.

get well soon. May you want watching some TED talks instead. :)

Re: ‘YouTube recommendations are toxic,’ says dev who worked on the algorithm (2019)

#14

Post by newlikeice » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 12:31 PM UTC

so how does it work so go on me? I find urges to check the feed all the time. But the content rarely engages me. I watch a couple minuets then switch. What is going on here? why am I gravitated towards it? Can I use the same process to my benefit? Like can you build your own algorithm to get you addicted o healthy information?

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Re: ‘YouTube recommendations are toxic,’ says dev who worked on the algorithm (2019)

#15

Post by nbzso » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 12:33 PM UTC

Educate your non tech friends to use adblockers, vpn and cleaning browser data after each session. Actually YouTube has decent search with filters. Don’t use any suggested video search an build a profile ( if you wish).

Re: ‘YouTube recommendations are toxic,’ says dev who worked on the algorithm (2019)

#16

Post by Just1689 » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 12:33 PM UTC

raverbashing wrote: post #2

Yes they are. They are the drug pushers of the modern era and the harder the drug the harder it pushes you Sure, it works fine for "normal" content. That's fine. But for "divisive" stuff it's like having someone trying to push you off road at every moment

Yeah I wonder if in the future we won't see this as a terrible crime (pushing the next dopamine hit to a bunch of addicts) or if humanity needs to evolve to gain much much more self control.

Re: ‘YouTube recommendations are toxic,’ says dev who worked on the algorithm (2019)

#17

Post by haunter » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 12:34 PM UTC

I don't even know anymore what's the word "toxic" means and what do people think it means.

Re: ‘YouTube recommendations are toxic,’ says dev who worked on the algorithm (2019)

#18

Post by bewareFB00 » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 12:35 PM UTC

Beware the filter bubbles: https://youtu.be/B8ofWFx525s

Using scientific unification as a cognitive guide to understand this holistically: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0375714499/

Developers! Startups! Cap tables! Unicorns! Disrupt YC and tune it out.

Re: ‘YouTube recommendations are toxic,’ says dev who worked on the algorithm (2019)

#19

Post by thatishard » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 12:36 PM UTC

thatishard wrote: post #3

My youtube sucks, I'm always looking for stuff to kill my time and youtube recommend the same crap videos 500 times in a row. It take a long time to find something I want to watch.

Another thing, don't click on a "Clickbait" video because you are curious, it will open the gates of hell and destroy your recommendations for a week.

Re: ‘YouTube recommendations are toxic,’ says dev who worked on the algorithm (2019)

#20

Post by thatishard » Wed, Dec 23, 2020, 12:37 PM UTC

RavlaAlvar wrote: post #12

thatishard wrote: post #3

My youtube sucks, I'm always looking for stuff to kill my time and youtube recommend the same crap videos 500 times in a row. It take a long time to find something I want to watch.

The trick is to actively tell YouTube what you don’t like, it work quite well for me.

I did try this a few times, but usually it have little effect on my recommendations.