YouTube Shorts Are Like Crack

I find the promoted YT shorts annoying. It's non-stop boobs and butts and I have never searched for this on YT. There is uBlock code to filter out those promoted videos but it sometimes breaks the site.

Re: YouTube Shorts Are Like Crack

#6

Post by gradientsrneat » Fri, Apr 04, 2025, 3:54 PM UTC

YouTube is the original TikTok. Back in the day, there used to be a limited video length. The recommendation algorithm has always been very good, but for privacy perception reasons Google added a configurable limited time window for history used for recommendations. With shorts, that time window might as well be infinite in comparison, and Google can ramp up the algorithmic exploitation to the max.

Fortunately YouTube does have various means to control your experience like subscriptions and RSS feeds, and videos of greater substance do exist. I use a Desktop Firefox addon that blocks shorts, as I generally perceive them to be low quality.

Re: YouTube Shorts Are Like Crack

#7

Post by ndegruchy » Fri, Apr 04, 2025, 3:56 PM UTC

Custom designed and tested to be as effective as humanly possible. They know all the buttons to push, and how to push them the most effectively. It's good that you were able to recognize it and stop, but so many more people don't or can't.

Re: YouTube Shorts Are Like Crack

#8

Post by SlightlyLeftPad » Fri, Apr 04, 2025, 4:05 PM UTC

31337Logic wrote: post #3

...and we're force-feeding it to our kids.

They require youtube for schoolwork, and you can’t block shorts specifically so yes this is totally true.

Re: YouTube Shorts Are Like Crack

#9

Post by RGamma » Fri, Apr 04, 2025, 9:33 PM UTC

gradientsrneat wrote: post #6

YouTube is the original TikTok. Back in the day, there used to be a limited video length. The recommendation algorithm has always been very good, but for privacy perception reasons Google added a configurable limited time window for history used for recommendations. With shorts, that time window might as well be infinite in comparison, and Google can ramp up the algorithmic exploitation to the max. Fortunately YouTub…

The 15 min limit used to be a great hindrance though because everyone had to split their lengthier videos, and what substantial thought can you transmit within 15 minutes, really?

Vine was the original TikTok.

Re: YouTube Shorts Are Like Crack

#10

Post by gradientsrneat » Sun, Apr 06, 2025, 12:46 AM UTC

RGamma wrote: post #9

gradientsrneat wrote: post #6

YouTube is the original TikTok. Back in the day, there used to be a limited video length. The recommendation algorithm has always been very good, but for privacy perception reasons Google added a configurable limited time window for history used for recommendations. With shorts, that time window might as well be infinite in comparison, and Google can ramp up the algorithmic exploitation to the max. Fortunately YouTub…

The 15 min limit used to be a great hindrance though because everyone had to split their lengthier videos, and what substantial thought can you transmit within 15 minutes, really? Vine was the original TikTok.

Vine is definitely worth pointing out as it is TikTok's direct parent feature-wise.

Still, YouTube's early democratization of video making for many people, combined with the (later?) recommendation algorithm, make it noteworthy as an ancestor, inspiration, and direct competitor.