Was trying to find the source for the extension, looks like the link was in the privacy notice. Github link here for those who are also looking for it: https://github.com/mozilla-extensions/regrets-reporter
Mozilla Is Crowdsourcing Research into YouTube Recommendations
101–110 of 179 posts
Re: Mozilla Is Crowdsourcing Research into YouTube Recommendations
#102What's impressive to me is that YouTube Recommendation are so ... stale. All it recommends to me is content from the same 3 categories, and the same videos over and over and over (you would think if I didn't click on the suggestion in the past 6 months it would adjust). Now the topics it recommends to me are non-political, but I can very well see that if you fall down one of more extremist rabbit holes thats all you…
For me it has been the opposite as in it has so little hysteresis. Just one day I watch something I do not usually watch, say cat videos, and for weeks I will get only cat videos as recommendations. I think their algorithm needs to be cognizant of and adapt to temporal shifts in a viewers interest. Some users may like change in focus at slightest of deviations, others may prefer more hysteresis.
Because of this, when I'm sent video links to watch I will open them up in a Private Window / Incognito so I do not pollute my account.
Re: Mozilla Is Crowdsourcing Research into YouTube Recommendations
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm pretty sure they're still testing that feature. I see it show up occasionally. Interestingly, I think there are a couple of variants for the number of videos to display on the home page, too.
How can I get myself on the better side of their A/B test ?
Unfortunately, I don't think there's any (public?) way to force it. I've seen the feature disappear or reappear on a reload -- it's not consistent across a session, let alone on a user-by-user basis.
Try refreshing the home page until it shows up, maybe?
Re: Mozilla Is Crowdsourcing Research into YouTube Recommendations
#104What's impressive to me is that YouTube Recommendation are so ... stale. All it recommends to me is content from the same 3 categories, and the same videos over and over and over (you would think if I didn't click on the suggestion in the past 6 months it would adjust). Now the topics it recommends to me are non-political, but I can very well see that if you fall down one of more extremist rabbit holes thats all you…
I've had the same experience. I use YT to listen to music pretty regularly and if I don't go and actively select a different song it will play the same 5-10 over and over. Even when I do select a song it will make its way back to those same 5-10 songs. There's a lot to discover on there so I still use it, but it's also pushing me back to my other services or libraries.
It actually works well for me since I mostly want to listen to similar mixes while working so my work Youtube account is pretty spot on.
Re: Mozilla Is Crowdsourcing Research into YouTube Recommendations
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
> they're looking for banning content they disagree with (i.e. censorship). That's an extremely unfair read of the situation. The extension doesn't even ban anything. It is a research project attempting to understand why the YouTube algorithm recommends the videos it does. Whether or not you think Plandemic (a nonsense conspiracy theory video) should be banned or not you can still see research into the YouTube algori…
Literally the first sentence of the article is about dangerous recommendations. And the second is about harmful content. This is not just an open-ended inquiry of what youtube is recommending. It's about finding the bad and getting rid of it. EDIT: I also want to remind people about how Mozilla used its push notifications to call for a Facebook boycott over objectionable content.
> YouTube recommendations can be delightful, but they can also be dangerous. The platform has a history of recommending harmful content — from pandemic conspiracies to political disinformation — to its users, even if they’ve previously viewed harmless content.
What part of this is untrue?
And again, you're saying "getting rid of it" without evidence. It's a study. It does not mention banning anything, anywhere. If the argument is that they should not study this because it might lead to bans in the future then you're being pro-censorship in order to promote anti-censorship which doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Re: Mozilla Is Crowdsourcing Research into YouTube Recommendations
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
They could probably infer that if I'm watching comedy,and the last 5 videos were comedy by the same artist, I don't want to watch some guy's channel about bassists that they've tried to get me to watch 100 times prior.
> They could probably infer that if I'm watching comedy ... I don't want to watch some guy's channel about bassists that they've tried to get me to watch 100 times prior. davie504 is basically a musically-themed comedy act, so this doesn't seem that unreasonable.
Urgh him. I watch a lot of music videos (as in videos about making music + music theory). I can not get this guy off my recommends. He has the personality of a sofa cushion. I cannot understand why he's popular.
Other than that, I'm pretty happy with my recommends. I think the Google spooks have built a good file on me.
Re: Mozilla Is Crowdsourcing Research into YouTube Recommendations
#107Couldn't care less about this. Just put out a paid version of Firefox that dedicates this revenue stream exclusively to continued Firefox development and I will happily pay fist fulls of money for it. Seriously, Firefox adds so much value to my life and I'd happily pay for it.
Re: Mozilla Is Crowdsourcing Research into YouTube Recommendations
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
Literally the first sentence of the article is about dangerous recommendations. And the second is about harmful content. This is not just an open-ended inquiry of what youtube is recommending. It's about finding the bad and getting rid of it. EDIT: I also want to remind people about how Mozilla used its push notifications to call for a Facebook boycott over objectionable content.
> YouTube recommendations can be delightful, but they can also be dangerous. The platform has a history of recommending harmful content — from pandemic conspiracies to political disinformation — to its users, even if they’ve previously viewed harmless content. What part of this is untrue? And again, you're saying "getting rid of it" without evidence. It's a study. It does not mention banning anything, anywhere. If th…
Having tried to get rid of things in the past is evidence. The very loaded choice of words they use is another.
I'm not saying they should not study this thing. I am just discussing their aims, because I think it's interesting, and it may inform others' choice of whether to participate or not.
Re: Mozilla Is Crowdsourcing Research into YouTube Recommendations
#109Fundamental flaw with this approach. Since I don't click on or watch conspiracy theories, none of my YouTube recommendations are those. But I have seen people watch incendiary and conspiracy theory videos exclusively on autoplay.
Re: Mozilla Is Crowdsourcing Research into YouTube Recommendations
#110I use a ublock filter to block YouTube recommendations. I think they're unhealthy.
Seconded. Here are the filters I use for blocking recommendations on YT, in case anyone else finds them useful:
youtube.com##.ytp-suggestions
youtube.com##.ytp-pause-overlay
youtube.com##.videowall-endscreen
youtube.com###related
youtube.com##ytd-browse[page-subtype="home"]