Normally, I use YouTube very little (watch a couple videos a month). However, I’ve been in bed with an injury for some time now, which has led me to watch quite a bit of YouTube. The thing is, I subscribe to a small handfull of channels that I enjoy content from, but after a relatively short time I had watched pretty much all the new content from those channels.
Now, I would expect that the YouTube algorithm, which is supposedly designed by competent people to get me to stick around, would be able to suggest some decent content to me based on my subscriptions. However, the past week, I’ve opened YouTube only to find the same old videos being suggested over and over. Even worse: Whenever there’s something interesting-looking from a channel I don’t recognise, it always turns out to be some shitty AI voice over some generic animations or footage.
I know for a fact that thousands of hours of content are created on YouTube daily, but it genuinely feels like there are maybe five creators out there that are making anything worth watching. It’s either that, or the YouTube algorithm is just complete crap at suggesting creators that are in any way similar to what I’m already subscribing to.
What’s going on here? Why does it seem like there’s no real content out there?
As a “funny” side note: What’s with the “aggressively American” AI narrator-voice? I’ve heard it before, but thought it was some dude until I realised it’s the same voice in a bunch of unrelated videos. It reminds me of the Discovery-channel “action-narrator”-voice from back in the day, but now it’s showing up in all kinds of crap videos.
The algorithm isn’t there to suggest you something enjoyable to watch.
It is designed to keep you on the site as long as possible by suggesting you what has kept other people on the site longer who also have watched what you watched, maybe.
Use the not interested button very liberally when it recommends you something you don’t want to see.
I guess I’ve understood that “keeping me on the site” doesn’t necessarily coincide with “show me stuff I like”, but I honestly thought there was more overlap. I keep scrolling past loads of shit before leaving, and then just being shown the same shit again when I come back. I haven’t really used the “not interested” option, I’ll try that and see if it helps. Thanks for the recommendation!
Or if you have already seen it, but it keeps getting proposed in your list, you can open it, like it, and it will disappear. Works for me at least.