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YouTube, the jewel of the internet

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Re: YouTube, the jewel of the internet

#61

YouTube will pull you towards controversial clickbaity crappy content since that’s what generated clicks. These days I just surgically search for what I need, watch that, then get out, ignoring all recommends because invariably they are crap. And YouTube is poison for young children who don’t know better than to follow what the algorithm tells you. You like super Mario? Here, 500 ways to die in Mario. And next - what…

Yeah but if you’re immune to the most obvious awful shit (not your kids) it’s kind of the only drawback.

I get the occasional “lets debunk flat earthers” but a) I don’t find that content interesting and b) I know that’s the lip of the rabbit hole, so if I just avoid those kind of videos, my feed is fine.

Your problem is legitimate and your response is understandable, but what would you think of YouTube if that weren’t a problem?

Re: YouTube, the jewel of the internet

#62
post #9

I agree with the author. I just cancelled Spotify and got YouTube Premium and it was an absolutely brilliant decision. Pretty soon I’m going to cancel Netflix and Prime too and just take out the odd month subscription to a streaming service if there’s something I really want to watch. I’m probably better off watching some informative documentary on YT than I am watching Netflix anyway and if I want entertainment, the…

> they had a youth where they could spend their entire time learning literally everything there is to know about their passion for free I have children between the ages of 9 and 26. You know what they are passionate about? Minecraft, Mr Beast, Travel vlogs, mommy vlogs, “reality” videos, etc. I’ve tried to introduce them to science, space, programming, history, math, finance, nature, etc. content and they don’t want…

> I’ve tried to introduce them to science, space, programming, history, math, finance, nature, etc. content and they don’t want to have anything to do with it.

Anyone good suggestions?

Re: YouTube, the jewel of the internet

#63
I think YouTube will really struggle to figure out how to weigh lowest common denominator content that does well with personalized recommendation that satisfy some deeper intellectual curiosity. I'm already finding it's a kind of "work" to keep the geopolitical and economics content that makes me feel like YouTube is a positive for me on the front page over shorts and sports montages.

Maybe my algorithms just in a bad place right now, but it feels like there's been some kind of shift this year, and I'm wondering if others are noticing something similar.

Re: YouTube, the jewel of the internet

#65
post #57

YouTube is amazing but a couple of disappointments: 1: YouTube financially rewards 12 minute videos. I feel like this has resulted in a collapse in creativity as now most videos are 12 minutes. You get what you pay for. 2: being a walled garden, YouTube is devoid of technical innovation. This really hasn’t evolved far beyond broadcast TV and that’s because YouTube owns all the content and developers can’t innovate th…

> 1: YouTube financially rewards 12 minute videos. I feel like this has resulted in a collapse in creativity as now most videos are 12 minutes. You get what you pay for. I checked my subscriptions page and of the latest 18 videos, here are the lengths stats * 1× * 3× 4-6min * 1× 10-12min * 6× 13-20min * 7× 20-40min

Levi Rozman talks about this a bit in his videos, I feel like the better rule is that you need at least one ad break, but two is also a good inflection point? I don’t think its 12 the number specifically, but 12 guarantees the first ad break.

Re: YouTube, the jewel of the internet

#66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they had a youth where they could spend their entire time learning literally everything there is to know about their passion for free I have children between the ages of 9 and 26. You know what they are passionate about? Minecraft, Mr Beast, Travel vlogs, mommy vlogs, “reality” videos, etc. I’ve tried to introduce them to science, space, programming, history, math, finance, nature, etc. content and they don’t want…

Watching kids watch youtube is like watching zombies. I know a kid who is a big fan of any kind of sports. He is constantly watching youtube videos that are basically stats and clips packaged up with some slight humor but very little analysis. This kid has basically an encyclopedic knowledge of sports... stats. All from youtube. I was also like this to a degree as a kid, but I got my info from stats books/magazines/n…

Not really sure what you’re talking about when you say that vid just enumerates stats. There’s a lot of narrative and comparison and context put into that video. Comparing it to how I grew up watching ESPN Sportscenter, I find that YT video much richer and varied

Re: YouTube, the jewel of the internet

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They can literally leave school and already be professionally competent. I really wonder about that. Learning anything requires active participation and motivation. YouTube provides great content, but I'd say it's the easy part. BTW, public libraries existed before youtube. My personal example, I graduated in maths 20 years ago and spent countless hours solving problems. Nowadays, I'm a youtube addict, I casually w…

School is less about learning a subject to any serious degree, and more about socialization and exposure to a breadth of subjects. I am suspect of people who view school purely as an educational experience.

You say "socialization" but I think the real word is "conformity".

Re: YouTube, the jewel of the internet

#68
post #61

YouTube will pull you towards controversial clickbaity crappy content since that’s what generated clicks. These days I just surgically search for what I need, watch that, then get out, ignoring all recommends because invariably they are crap. And YouTube is poison for young children who don’t know better than to follow what the algorithm tells you. You like super Mario? Here, 500 ways to die in Mario. And next - what…

Yeah but if you’re immune to the most obvious awful shit (not your kids) it’s kind of the only drawback. I get the occasional “lets debunk flat earthers” but a) I don’t find that content interesting and b) I know that’s the lip of the rabbit hole, so if I just avoid those kind of videos, my feed is fine. Your problem is legitimate and your response is understandable, but what would you think of YouTube if that weren’…

> What would you think of YouTube if that weren’t a problem?

Not op, however I avoid YT at all costs. I would sing a tune of a product giving back to the world. Education, knowledge and entertainment. Quite a dream compared to the current as of the moment; corruption of education, knowledge and entertainment.

Re: YouTube, the jewel of the internet

#69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they had a youth where they could spend their entire time learning literally everything there is to know about their passion for free I have children between the ages of 9 and 26. You know what they are passionate about? Minecraft, Mr Beast, Travel vlogs, mommy vlogs, “reality” videos, etc. I’ve tried to introduce them to science, space, programming, history, math, finance, nature, etc. content and they don’t want…

I am currently in high school, you definitely are right that the majority of people my age do just waste their time on YouTube (I do too sometimes) but there are a few of us that really take advantage of it. I have personally spent a large amount of time on YouTube learning to program over the past few years, I have now become quite competent and built some pretty cool things on my own (search engines, chess bots, pe…

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Re: YouTube, the jewel of the internet

#70
Another great thing about YouTube not mentioned is the quality of comments. Something happened in the last 5 years or so that changed them profoundly.

Once the laugh of the internet they are now one of the most wholesome in it. Almost unbelievable for a public site.

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