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

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

#61

Post by qwerty456127 »

hackeraccount wrote: post #11

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 pe…

What happens if you start actively pressing to dislike on every video you didn't want to get recommended to you?

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

#62

Post by nottorp »

That's okay, I've noticed google has started to make it completely useless in any case. I tried to watch a speed run for a game (~2 hours) recently and google deemed to interrupt me with an ad every 3-5 minutes. Not even TV does that.

I just found something similar on twitch, which for some reason didn't give me any ads. I wonder how long that will last...

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

#63

Post by visarga »

3131s wrote: post #25
tsomctl wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's actually what prompted me to post this. I don't know how Youtube's algorithms work internally, but lately the front page is just so broken that it's baffling. The sidebar recommendations are another discussion -- those are possibly more pernicious but at least not as obviously dysfunctional. How is it possible to have the largest repository of video content in the world, yet Youtube is only able to recommend m…

You're probably right about the recommender but kid videos are not crap. In fact there's a Cambrian explosion of kid videos, some are amazing.

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

#64

Post by mlthoughts2018 »

H8crilA wrote: post #27

Protip if this annoys you: go to myactivity.google.com, delete everything and pause all further collection. Now only your subscriptions and likes count (and maybe a few other things that are not considered "activity"). It's so much better! Did it once and now I don't want to go back.

The scary thing is that I don’t have any type of Google account at all, yet they clearly still track me and amass a profile of my history and choices.

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

#65

Post by chrisa »

Giant tip: look at https://www.youtube.com/feed/history and remove any videos you don't want included for recommendations - it really helps clean up your suggested videos.

Doing that, combined with liberally using incognito mode for one-off video watching, helps keeps suggestions actually reasonable.

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

#67

Post by harry8 »

read_if_gay_ wrote: post #33
barrkel wrote: post #5

I find YT does a gradient ascent into more popular videos. I start out listening to a song with 1000 views, I get recommended 10k view songs, then 100k, and before you know it it's back in the mainstream. There's no way to surf a niche, to hunt in a pile of bin ends. I imagine it's similar for conspiracy stuff. It'll point you in the direction of the most convincing nonsense.

If conspiracy stuff were the same way you describe music, you would eventually end up with the mainstream opinion, no?

end up with the currently really popular conspiracy stuff. As opposed the nuanced, analysed, subtle thorough and less excitingly paced stuff.

1) CIA is interefering in US elections with evidence-free accuasation of Russia helping candidates who might reign them in to follow the law. Conspiracy? Or something to it?

2) Russia is paying bounties to kill American soldiers. Conspiracy? Or something to it?

3) Hunter Biden might be a bit corrupt. Conspiracy? or something to it?

4) The President has been compromised by Russia. Conspiracy? or something to it?

There will be incendiary stuff on all of the above absolutely full of utter nonsense. There will be reasonable stuff also assessing evidence and may even not come up with a clear and definite conclusion on one or another. Which of these will YT reccomendation push you to? I don't know.

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

#68

Post by jimktrains2 »

pm215 wrote: post #42
hackeraccount wrote: post #11

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 pe…

Yes; in particular it would be nice if the algorithm mixed in "here's some videos on a topic you watched a bunch of six months or a year ago" sometimes. But it's so fixated on the very short term of your history that if a topic ever ages out of that it's gone forever, unless you personally remember it and go searching for it...

It seems to try to show mw videos I've watched 6 months ago; not topics from before, but the actual videos I've already seen.

Whats worse is that for videos I haven't watched it recommends the same videos for weeks, even though I never watch it.

I feel like half of the recommendation slots are wasted in one of these ways.

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

#69

Post by Erlich_Bachman »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #60

For me YouTube recommendations are not toxic, they are so amazing I some times wonder how comes the world around is not heaven when everybody has free access to this. That's because I always watch high-quality educational content and some beautiful comforting and inspiring music. So for me YouTube is a fountain of knowledge, visual and musical aesthetics etc. Every day I get inspiration, healthy kind of fun and learn…

It doesn't seem that hard to get out of a pit, even with the account. It just takes a couple of days of browsing of the new type of content, along with maybe clicking "don't recommend this channel"/"not interested" 3-4 times, and the algorithm switches to the new things... The algorithm doesn't care, it just recommends.

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

#70

Post by stuaxo »

gfxgirl wrote: post #44

I know I'm old but dang for some reason I really dislike recommendations from almost any company. For media I grew up in the 70s and had the TV Guide. I'd look through to see what I wanted to watch, circle some things and then watch. No spying what-so-ever. So, I like for example HN where AFAIK I'm not tracked so much and I choose what I want from the top of the list. Conversely I mostly hate Amazon, Netflix, Amazon…

"Engagement" is toxic full stop.
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