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Show HN: Less Addictive YouTube – a cross-browser plugin

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Re: Show HN: Less Addictive YouTube – a cross-browser plugin

#31

Post by sksksk »

FridayoLeary wrote: post #26
hawski wrote: post #18

A less drastic extension is Clickbait Remover. It replaces thumbnails to an actual frame from the video and de-capitalizes titles: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/clickbait-rem...

Which should be done anyway. YouTube dropped the ball on that one.

YouTube used to select the preview image by taking a freeze frame at a certain point in the video.

Older YouTubers used to manipulate this by putting the suggestive part of the video at the right time.

Here's a blast from the past doing just that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8tXjJL3xcM

Re: Show HN: Less Addictive YouTube – a cross-browser plugin

#32

Post by csunbird »

FridayoLeary wrote: post #26
hawski wrote: post #18

A less drastic extension is Clickbait Remover. It replaces thumbnails to an actual frame from the video and de-capitalizes titles: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/clickbait-rem...

Which should be done anyway. YouTube dropped the ball on that one.

I am also not sure why they allow thumbnails outside of the video content anyways.

Re: Show HN: Less Addictive YouTube – a cross-browser plugin

#34

Post by lucideer »

csunbird wrote: post #32
FridayoLeary wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which should be done anyway. YouTube dropped the ball on that one.

I am also not sure why they allow thumbnails outside of the video content anyways.

I think largely because not allowing it doesn't make that much of a difference; I can just as easily place a click-baity frame within my actual video and use that as the thumb.

Re: Show HN: Less Addictive YouTube – a cross-browser plugin

#35

Post by lucideer »

hawski wrote: post #18

A less drastic extension is Clickbait Remover. It replaces thumbnails to an actual frame from the video and de-capitalizes titles: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/clickbait-rem...

Haven't used it, but how representative/helpful are the replaced frames? I can imagine that would be something that would be very difficult to get right (even with the help of AI).

My thinking is that with curated thumbs I can at least get a good idea of the author's intent (particularly when one's a relatively experienced regular YT user).

I kinda thing targeting curated thumbnail selection is looking at the wrong cause: curated thumbnails don't cause clickbaity thumbnail choice, perverse commercial incentives do.

Re: Show HN: Less Addictive YouTube – a cross-browser plugin

#36

Post by luffapi »

I have the opposite problem with YT, I’d really like for it to offer me great suggestions so I could sit back for hours and watch, instead of having to actively search for new content. The problem is the recommendations are really narrow. Want to watch a video on how to make cheese? I hope you like being recommended every video from that channel and every other cheese making video for the next 30 days. I feel like it doesn’t look holistically at my viewing habits to provide something that fits me.

Maybe I watch stuff like that mixed with Australia nature docs and C++ videos. What do other people that watch those things watch that I’d find novel. They should also try to get rid of repetition, especially in music recommendations.

Does anyone know if there are alternatives to the native YT recs that operate over YT content?

Re: Show HN: Less Addictive YouTube – a cross-browser plugin

#38

Post by 46756e »

luffapi wrote: post #36

I have the opposite problem with YT, I’d really like for it to offer me great suggestions so I could sit back for hours and watch, instead of having to actively search for new content. The problem is the recommendations are really narrow. Want to watch a video on how to make cheese? I hope you like being recommended every video from that channel and every other cheese making video for the next 30 days. I feel like it…

I feel this. I feel like a decade ago, video suggestions where based on what you were currently watching and you could find tiny channels and new content easily.

Nowadays the suggestions are basically 1/2 videos I have seen and 1/2 videos that are either big youtubers or I have subscribed to.

No going down the rabbit hole to find new stuff unless you search yourself.

Re: Show HN: Less Addictive YouTube – a cross-browser plugin

#39

Post by riggsdk »

luffapi wrote: post #36

I have the opposite problem with YT, I’d really like for it to offer me great suggestions so I could sit back for hours and watch, instead of having to actively search for new content. The problem is the recommendations are really narrow. Want to watch a video on how to make cheese? I hope you like being recommended every video from that channel and every other cheese making video for the next 30 days. I feel like it…

I also have this issue with Spotify. I barely know the names of the bands/groups/dj's I listen to. I tend to have both a broad and narrow music taste at the same time. When I like one song from a band I rarely like their other stuff - but Spotify keeps suggesting it to me.

Re: Show HN: Less Addictive YouTube – a cross-browser plugin

#40

Post by jessedrain »

ehnto wrote: post #30

I don't click on related videos, and have a bookmark straight to my subscriptions, but even still I get caught on YouTube for too long. My subscriptions produce almost daily content, and whilst I find it valuable, it's also just far too much content to consume in a day and still be productive, so I can get stuck on it. So I blocked it entirely. It's just another casualty in my continued attempt to rid myself of feed…

I attempted going down the route of blocking completely but I always come back after missing at least one too good video, or if a song isn't being streamed on Spotify. I do agree that the majority of Youtube isn't of good use for anyone.
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