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Some Tips for Taming the YouTube Algorithm [1]
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Date: 2023-01-02
In the olden days, Elders used to pass down important Stories, around the Campfire, to the younger generations ... Today, we just gather around YouTube. Society's new institute for passing along "knowledge".... It's called "progress," some say. Guess it depends on which side of the Certificate one sits.
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I have kind of a Love/Hate relationship with YouTube:
I love the fact that I can learn from the wisdom of others, in the subject areas that interest me.
I hate the fact that the YouTube “Algorithm” floods my YouTube launch page, with tons of Videos that echo or mirror some random video I just happened to watched.
Here’s an example:
I saw some click-bait title about the ‘Challenges and Dangers of Climbing the Matterhorn’ — and it sounded interesting so I clicked it. And watched the content in awe and amazement at what people can and will endure. In the name of (insert your noun). [Fame, Fortune, Adventure, Misery ...]
Such an interesting looking “suggested” title — or in the vernacular of the Algorithm: Click-Bait.
Well, the next time I was on the Tube, there were several more Mountain Climbing Misadventures titles “suggested to me.” I made the mistake of confirming to the “Algorithm” (that it was “right”) — I clicked another such title , this time about Mt Everest, I think. Or could have been K-2 or the Cerro Torre in Patagonian. Hard to recall, late at night, and I was bored. … and it sounded “interesting.”
Well after that, the YouTube “Algorithm” had me “dialed in” … Mind you, I never Liked any of these videos, and I often jumped around, or would not watch them to the end. No matter. The Algo had me pegged for some vicarious thrill seeker, the riskier/deadlier the better (apparently from the content it served up to me day after day … LOOOOONG after I quit responding to its click-bait buffet of high altitude tragedies ...)
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This recent experience got me wondering, and reading this insightful post too:
Just how does that YouTube Algorithm work anyways — is there any way to steer it to your advantage? So that it, you know, actually recommends the things, you really want to watch.
After a brief Google search, its Algo recommended this article, up near the top of the list:
A Complete Beginner’s Guide to YouTube Algorithm in 2023
by Chandraveer Singh, www.socialpilot.co
[...] [Emphasis from source] Enter Watch Time (2012) To tackle this misuse of clicks and views and improve their user experience, YouTube announced an update in 2012. They prioritized considering videos that had higher attention time; videos that users actually want to watch, which would ultimately lead them to spend more time on the platform. [...] How does YouTube’s Algorithm work in 2022? We already know what YouTube says about its algorithm. It has two goals to achieve. First, find a video recommendation for individuals according to their interests.
Second, keep them hooked on the platform. [...] YouTube Algorithm Affecting The Recommended Videos The algorithm goes through a two-fold process for recommending videos to a user. First, it ranks videos based on data of their performance analytics. (Videos that are trending are on priority) Second, it matches videos based on the user’s history and the similar content they have watched earlier. The idea is to match users to videos that they WOULD watch. So ultimately, they would end up spending more time on the platform, going through as many ads as possible. [...]
That was an interested read. It goes through a much longer history of YouTube, so is definitely worth a click, if the subject interests you. Although the article is geared toward “content creators,” more so than “average viewers.” So you might have to pick and choose, what’s relevant to you.
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SO the YouTube Algorithm’s “goal in life” is to supply my interests with content.
It’s second goal, is to “keep me hooked” on that supply.
Hmmm, there seems to be some serotonin-pleasure hormone “feed-back loop” being employed here, which may not be entirely ethical. But will have to save that research for another Twitter-deconstruction day.
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Some YouTube Algo-observations:
My “watch-time” matters. My “likes” matter. My “subscriptions” matter.”
And not really to my surprise, given how things work on dkos, “popular/trending” videos matter too.
Good to know, when following through on those New Year’s resolutions, to “make online time better” … and not such a spiral of angst and dread.
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PS. I DID find a way to tell the Algorithm to STOP dishing up Macabre Mountain Tales, into my video stream. And it was simply this:
1) Click on the “3 dots” of a video that I wish was not there.
2) Then click on the “Not Interested” button in the expanded options for that video.
Because Life is too Short ...
The Algo will be sad. And it will want to KNOW WHY you are rejecting its “serotonin supply” for the day. Don’t give it the satisfaction (aka more personal info). Simply let your preferences be known.
Nah, I’d rather not.
I had to only tell it twice that I am “Not Interested” in its recommended Macabre Mountain Tales — and miraculously they were finally gone. Replaced by suggestions more in my regular wheelhouse (Number Theory, Science, Nature Videos, Photography, Quantum Theory, Health, Hiking, Politics, Comedians, Scenic places, etc. — you know, “wholesome” entertainment).
Who says AI can’t take a hint. … at least for now.
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Hopefully some of you will find this simple trick useful for managing your YouTube content consumption, in what will prove to be an interesting few years.
Only so many hours in a day after all, NOT to be choosy how you spend them.
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PSS. By digging this up for some dkos comment recently, YouTube somehow noticed and it has resulted in some fun cartoonish-content being fed into my daily YouTube bloodstream:
“Memory Lane” — it’s a wondrous thing.
We should take a stroll down it once in a while. It’s good for the soul.
(and for stirring up those dormant neurons of old.)
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