YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney • Hacker News Board

Re: YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney

#71

Post by cogman10 » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 8:10 PM UTC

guzfip wrote: post #52

rambambram wrote: post #42

Youtube must know better than me what to recommend me out of all the videos... still, I get presented the same shite again and again. To be fair: not everything is shite and Youtube is my favorite social media (especially for discovering new music), but I noticed a big drop in quality videos from one day to the other a couple of years ago. Just opening up Youtube one day and seeing all kinds of thumbnails with people…

> Youtube must know better than me what to recommend me out of all the videos... still, I get presented the same shite again and again. Yep, for some reasons the recommendation engines seem to have become “oh you glanced at this post for 2 second or you watched a single video, this must be exclusively what you want” I’ve seen it on social media too, notably Facebook.

Yup, that's exactly the youtube problem. It's really terrible for finding new interesting things. If you don't already know exactly what you want to watch, you'll never discover something new you might like.

Re: YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney

#72

Post by kami23 » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 8:11 PM UTC

squigz wrote: post #60

loevborg wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I wonder how people are motivated to comment if they can't even track replies or check likes. It certainly completely kills motivation for me

Do you and GP not get notifications for replies and (at least some) likes?

In my case I have almost all notifications disabled so maybe there's an option somewhere. Generally find those notification badges too powerful for me to not check and then get waylaid doom scrolling/watching, so I've made it a habit to always disable them everywhere.

Somewhat tempted to re-enable it as I only really comment on videos that are for very very niche communities and I'm usually answering or asking questions.

Re: YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney

#73

Post by kube-system » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 8:13 PM UTC

rambambram wrote: post #42

Youtube must know better than me what to recommend me out of all the videos... still, I get presented the same shite again and again. To be fair: not everything is shite and Youtube is my favorite social media (especially for discovering new music), but I noticed a big drop in quality videos from one day to the other a couple of years ago. Just opening up Youtube one day and seeing all kinds of thumbnails with people…

> If anybody knows some good DIY or woodworking channels, let me know!

A woodworker and former RIM engineer -- if you don't already know his channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Matthiaswandel

Re: YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney

#74

Post by wffurr » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 8:13 PM UTC

hitekker wrote: post #40

I pay for YouTube Premium. No ads; I feel like it respects my time. Algorithm is well tailored too. The “remove video thumbnail” and “remove YouTube shorts” chrome extension is a must install though.

> it respects my time

> remove video thumbnail” and “remove YouTube shorts” chrome extension is a must install

Which is it? Does YouTube respect your time and attention as a user or does it prey on them? I'm pretty sure it's the latter.

The fact that you can pay to opt out of ads has always seemed like a weird business decision to me. Sabotage your ad viewership by siphoning off users with spending money for things like an ad-free subscription. I suppose it prevents losing users to paid platforms or those who just wouldn't tolerate ads at all, and gives an out for users who would otherwise contribute to the ads vs ad blockers arms race.

Re: YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney

#75

Post by kitsune1 » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 8:14 PM UTC

hitekker wrote: post #40

I pay for YouTube Premium. No ads; I feel like it respects my time. Algorithm is well tailored too. The “remove video thumbnail” and “remove YouTube shorts” chrome extension is a must install though.

They increased the price recently, but I personally just use UBlock.

Re: YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney

#76

Post by osigurdson » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 8:14 PM UTC

rickcarlino wrote: post #28

My biggest concern about Youtube is that they do not truly have a competitor. They just raised premium prices again making it one of my most expensive entertainment subscriptions.

The barrier to entry seems pretty low, technically at least. Maybe someone will create something with a different twist that will catch on. TikTok was able to carve out a niche after all.

Re: YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney

#77

Post by FireBeyond » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 8:14 PM UTC

guzfip wrote: post #52

rambambram wrote: post #42

Youtube must know better than me what to recommend me out of all the videos... still, I get presented the same shite again and again. To be fair: not everything is shite and Youtube is my favorite social media (especially for discovering new music), but I noticed a big drop in quality videos from one day to the other a couple of years ago. Just opening up Youtube one day and seeing all kinds of thumbnails with people…

> Youtube must know better than me what to recommend me out of all the videos... still, I get presented the same shite again and again. Yep, for some reasons the recommendation engines seem to have become “oh you glanced at this post for 2 second or you watched a single video, this must be exclusively what you want” I’ve seen it on social media too, notably Facebook.

>Yep, for some reasons the recommendation engines seem to have become “oh you glanced at this post for 2 second or you watched a single video, this must be exclusively what you want”

Worse than that, at times my home page feed has been 5-10% "Here's a video you've already watched all the way through. Want to watch it again?" recommendations. Like YT can see I've watched the video - why are so many videos I've watched being "recommended" for me?

Re: YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney

#78

Post by lotsofpulp » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 8:15 PM UTC

tombert wrote: post #51

meetingthrower wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has happened to me btw. I can only suspect they are "testing" the reception.

Ugh. I can't speak for anyone else, but I have a very strong, borderline-irrational distaste for ads. I hate advertising, I hate having to watch advertisements, I will go out of my way considerably to avoid ads. I have over 400 blu-rays specifically because I wanted to guarantee that I don't have to risk seeing ads in my media. I liked YouTube Premium because it was an ethical way to avoid ads on YouTube; there's alw…

>If I start seeing ads unless I'm extorted for more money, that might end up being a final straw for me.

How is it any different than the price increases that have happened up until now? Or do you mean $27 per month for up to 6 accounts is the most you will ever be willing to pay?

Re: YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney

#79

Post by Quarrelsome » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 8:15 PM UTC

rambambram wrote: post #42

Youtube must know better than me what to recommend me out of all the videos... still, I get presented the same shite again and again. To be fair: not everything is shite and Youtube is my favorite social media (especially for discovering new music), but I noticed a big drop in quality videos from one day to the other a couple of years ago. Just opening up Youtube one day and seeing all kinds of thumbnails with people…

Agreed. It painfully overfits based on what I've watched. I've watched thousands of videos and it still doesn't understand me at all because it appears to treat every action as equal. As an example, I like watching the Starcraft II streamer uThermal but I'm not really interested in other Starcraft II content creators because uThermal scratches that itch. However YouTube will keep showing me Starcraft II content creators that I am not subbed to and whose content I will never watch.

Of the 30 videos currently proposed to be on front page I'd consider watching maybe 4 of them. To be honest I'm a big fan of the change they made to occasionally show new content because it actually provides some novelty (one of those 4 is of a video from a creator with only 19 subscribers).

Re: YouTube now world's largest media company, topping Disney

#80

Post by raincole » Tue, Apr 14, 2026, 8:15 PM UTC

keiferski wrote: post #59

raincole wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just anecdotes, but I feel YouTube comments are the bottom of social media. Even Twitter and Reddit are better. But if the 99% garbage is the price of the emerging of channels like 3B1B, I think it's still a pretty good deal.

I don’t agree at all. This was true a decade ago, but today YouTube comments are almost all positive, and you’ll often get some really insightful ones too.

> but today YouTube comments are almost all positive

Yeah, exactly. I believe this is the main reason the quality is so bad. Comments with any negative language get pushed down, creating an empty (sometimes toxic), artificial positive atmosphere.