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Wtf is happening to my YouTube recommendations (feddit.de)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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From under a max Miller video about waffles??

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[-] [email protected] 59 points 5 months ago

Im just kinda confused. The last overtly religious video I watched was when I was having an existential crisis 7 years ago, why on earth does yt see me watching a video about the history of waffles and think: "you know what this guy wants to see? Someone going on about how our Lord and saviour Elon musk is going to bring about the rapture."

[-] [email protected] 56 points 5 months ago

All it takes is one random click on some vague "theory channel", or the the same subject like in this case "musk"

[-] [email protected] 23 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

My Google news feed has apparently decided I want to know more about that absolute fucking ghoul from Blackrock that has declared we're not sacrificing enough of finite time on Eath to capitalism because I read one article about him and choked down the reflexive vomit, and has been giving me more and more articles about him all day.

This is how bubbles are created, I'm sure.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

Not even that - if you don’t have thumbnail previewing disabled, I’m sure that anything you hover over, intentionally or unintentionally, or even just bump the mouse onto while getting up, will probably affect your recommendations.

Also, they may be trying to work ML shit into it and are just fucking it up in a subtly spectacular fashion.

[-] [email protected] 22 points 5 months ago

Because this stupid shit is spreading like wildfire. My mom won't stop sending me videos like this.

[-] [email protected] 14 points 5 months ago

Every time I visit my parents I go through their YouTube now and unsub from all the weird shit. I always get the same response from them "idk I didn't sub to that" children man, they come in all ages. I ask her "then why do you randomly drop dog whistles that line up with what's being currently spouted by the right?" 🦗🦗🦗🦗🦗

[-] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

You have my deepest condolences

[-] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago

Maybe you don't want to watch it. But the algorithm is meant to maximize viewing time. And someone (several someone's) with a similar profile and tastes to yours went on a viewing rampage in the past. So they are shooting their shot that you'd behave like your peers.

This kind of videos are also engagement bait. So they are the algorithm darlings. Optimizing for engagement will always result in the most extremist and unhinged content being promoted. The mildly curious about spirituality to religious nutjob pipeline is very real.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Hmmm you sure you're not watching other techbro stuff? Religion isn't the only factor in play with Elon Musk the Saviour. That said, have a satanic algorithm cleanser here and a magical one here, pushing you towards "atheist mystic scholar" which is pretty much the diametrical opposite of TV evangelist fare. If you want hardcore scholar stuff within an Abrahamic context that also exists. With that under your belt and seen the algorithm should realise that rapture heroin will have no effect on you, presumably it's pushing it because it gets a lot of engagement when it leads people down that path.

The best antidote to techbro stuff should be things like tesla takedowns as well as actual science journalism.