Youtube recommendations have become repetetive, boring, unhelpful and stunting for personal growth.

[Can]

The algorithm of Youtube is not the same as it was in the past. The current one is so bad, it's insane. I used to be able to learn new things with Youtube, now it feels like I get recommended the same old stuff again and again.

In its golden age, Youtube was an immensely helpful tool for me. I went through phases of listening to lectures by so many different people and this shaped me in a positive way, and helped me view the world in a much more nuanced way than I saw it in before. This platform used to expand my consiousness & help me grow as a person on many levels because I could find innumerable different perspectives on any topic I was interested in. Ray Peat was one of the insightful people, but not the only one, that I found through Youtube.

Youtube once felt like it provided a platform to gather mentors who helped in aquiring a basis of knowledge on every topic and everything that one would want to learn. Whether it was spirituality, religion, science, history, politics, philosophy.. Provided one understood how to seperate the wheat from the chaff, there were so many golden nuggets on Youtube that would just help a lot in personal growth and educating oneself.

But nowadays.... Now Youtube just keeps recommending lectures and videos from the people you already know and have listened to for a long time, or even worse, videos you have already watched.. As a little side dish, it also recommends videos spewing the same kind of political propaganda narratives the government or covid officials want you to watch, coming from mainstream media channels. There are other ways in which this platform took a change for the worse, but the recommendation issue seems to be among the bigger negative developements imo. I used to like spending time on Youtube, now I feel bored by the same recommendations again and again.

Recommendations are the only reliable way to be constantly exposed to new stuff on Youtube that I know of, and now they are worthless most of the time. This platform once helped me develop, now it feels like it just stunts growth (provided it's the only place that you are active on) and keeps you on the same level by constantly feeding you irrelevant ***t you already know. Really sad... Youtube is unmatched in content quantity and quality compared to other video streaming sites. If it weren't for the bad algorithm that kept recommending stuff that is irrelevant, this platform would be amazingly good.

Like honestly, what has happened.. I guess Google happened?

If anyone knows internet sites that can scan through the content of Youtube and have their own algorithm that allows for better recommendations (if something like that exists), please share them. Or maybe share what you think about Youtube alternatives like Odysee or BitChute, or about Youtube itself.

 

[animalcule]

I've stopped watching/listening as much to new videos on YouTube as well. I wondered if it was just that I'd spent so much time on it in my 20s, it was all just starting to blur together and become boring to me. I have noticed that none of the recommendations seem to really interest me.

Perhaps it's the algorithm. But a contributing component could possibly be the type of content, and the mass amounts of it, that is being uploaded to YouTube now. Everyone wants to create a following, make a business out of it. And to get their numbers up, 'creators' upload tons of videos, often very similar, because they're just trying to make a dent in the algorithm and get views. Some of my favorite videos on YouTube were old, pre-2000 interviews (previously aired on TV) that someone had saved and then uploaded. The uploader wasn't trying to build a base, they were just putting up interviews on certain topics they found interesting. Today there are tens of thousands of videos on any given topic -- which ones are worth watching? I don't know. And I'm less and less interested in sifting through them.

Interested to see if anyone can answer your question.

 

[JamesGatz]

Youtube, Google, and social media are run by all the same people -

20 years ago they cared about good quality content and algorithms - making their user base happy

Now that the walls are closing in on the PLEBS - they use their platforms to push their propaganda/agendas for the NWO - they don't care whether people dislike it hence they removed the dislike button and shove it in your face

A month ago I deleted all my social media (Facebook, Instagram, even LinkedIn, etc.) - its all just stuff that they use to keep the people distracted, happy, and complacent - Always was a huge waste of time and it actually stresses me out to see the NWO content on those sites each time I login

i just want to live a humble life where I get to MEET a
and SPEAK to people in person - what they're trying to take away from people

 

[Grapelander]

I had recommendations for "Owen Benjamin" and "Know More News" show up for years on the side panel.
I only do YouTube now with a downloader.

 

[Meta]

It’s all politics, social commentary and reactionary takes with toxic pop culture filtered in

 

[AlaskaJono]

I have been using the tube for over 10 years, especially to watch OLD movies, or old Chinese movies with subtitles that have been around since the 1970s. I do take breaks in the year from it...... and mostly do it at night. The movies aren;t even available now that were back in the day. Removed. But it can be found sometimes with different titles! Or dubbed into Arabic or Tamil.

And 100% the recommendations (algorithm) are a joke. Just would keep one on a very short loop. Dumb down agenda? Or stupid AI creating the algo?

I mainly use it now for 1 min local news snippets, and for 'financial' news. Which is tied to political. Gerald Celente is a cracker, cursing like a sailor and telling it like it is. Bitchute and other platforms are in use in our house for non main street stuff. Cheers.

 

[lvysaur]

youtube, google, and reddit are becoming unusable just from a technical perspective (this is ignoring anything about the sociopolitical developments)

many old reddit posts just get auto-deleted, and many things I was able to find on google a few years ago started becoming unsearchable. Many older youtube vids no longer show the date of upload.

I started noticing this trend around 2019.

And 100% the recommendations (algorithm) are a joke.

I remember seeing a recommendation for an Abby Shapiro video and clicking the "do not recommend again" option.
The next day, I saw a HUGE triple-wide ad for Abby Shapiro. It took up 3x the length of a normal recomendation, and I'd never seen an ad like that before, and I've never seen one since. I didn't even know it was possible for the Youtube app to display an ad that big. This was around 2021.

These days I don't even use the "not interested" option, because it seems that (at least in Abby Shapiro's case) Youtube goes out of its way to aggressively market stuff to you that you don't like. Maybe to drive rage-clicks and controversy?

The Youtube change began sometime around 2011. That was roughly the time when Youtube changed the "related videos" list from a list of videos related to the CURRENT video you were watching, to a list of videos related to ALL videos you had ever watched. Meaning the list was now more distracting, and would drive more traffic.

 

[AspiringSage]

A solid book that covers what short format click bait has done to people in the developed world: The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

 

[AlaskaJono]

A solid book that covers what short format click bait has done to people in the developed world: The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

I love the title, so true.

 

[Runenight201]

You find the good channels and subscribe to them. Plenty of people putting out quality content. Once subscribed to a good portfolio those are the types of vids you’re going to see. If the people you are subscribed to aren’t putting good content than that’s more of a slight against the content creators you’re subscribed to then YouTube itself.

 

[AlaskaJono]

Google, and You tube, the search ends. Basically how I interpret the Shallowing effect.

 

[abady]

Read books.

 

[Adf]

The algorithm of Youtube is not the same as it was in the past. The current one is so bad, it's insane. I used to be able to learn new things with Youtube, now it feels like I get recommended the same old stuff again and again.

In its golden age, Youtube was an immensely helpful tool for me. I went through phases of listening to lectures by so many different people and this shaped me in a positive way, and helped me view the world in a much more nuanced way than I saw it in before. This platform used to expand my consiousness & help me grow as a person on many levels because I could find innumerable different perspectives on any topic I was interested in. Ray Peat was one of the insightful people, but not the only one, that I found through Youtube.

Youtube once felt like it provided a platform to gather mentors who helped in aquiring a basis of knowledge on every topic and everything that one would want to learn. Whether it was spirituality, religion, science, history, politics, philosophy.. Provided one understood how to seperate the wheat from the chaff, there were so many golden nuggets on Youtube that would just help a lot in personal growth and educating oneself.

But nowadays.... Now Youtube just keeps recommending lectures and videos from the people you already know and have listened to for a long time, or even worse, videos you have already watched.. As a little side dish, it also recommends videos spewing the same kind of political propaganda narratives the government or covid officials want you to watch, coming from mainstream media channels. There are other ways in which this platform took a change for the worse, but the recommendation issue seems to be among the bigger negative developements imo. I used to like spending time on Youtube, now I feel bored by the same recommendations again and again.

Recommendations are the only reliable way to be constantly exposed to new stuff on Youtube that I know of, and now they are worthless most of the time. This platform once helped me develop, now it feels like it just stunts growth (provided it's the only place that you are active on) and keeps you on the same level by constantly feeding you irrelevant ***t you already know. Really sad... Youtube is unmatched in content quantity and quality compared to other video streaming sites. If it weren't for the bad algorithm that kept recommending stuff that is irrelevant, this platform would be amazingly good.

Like honestly, what has happened.. I guess Google happened?

If anyone knows internet sites that can scan through the content of Youtube and have their own algorithm that allows for better recommendations (if something like that exists), please share them. Or maybe share what you think about Youtube alternatives like Odysee or BitChute, or about Youtube itself.

Yep. To handle Youtube properly, I find you need to ignore their home page. Search for channels that upload quality eye-opening content that you can learn from, subscribe to those channels and bookmark your 'Subscriptions' page. DONT ever use the home page, click subscriptions to view only the content of the channels you're subscribed too and make sure those channels are all quality ones. Unfortunately now it often requires the search function to find new content.

The issue I have with all 'alternative' video hosting websites is their content is 99% right wing doom and gloom who would be banned from Youtube. Nothing, or very little content that is interesting and insightful. Great if you want to be stuck in the doom and gloom mood.

 

[Grapelander]

A solid book that covers what short format click bait has done to people in the developed world: The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

Thank you for the book recommendation!!!

 

[Can]

Perhaps it's the algorithm. But a contributing component could possibly be the type of content, and the mass amounts of it, that is being uploaded to YouTube now. Everyone wants to create a following, make a business out of it. And to get their numbers up, 'creators' upload tons of videos, often very similar, because they're just trying to make a dent in the algorithm and get views.

Sure, that's probably part of it. But this problem wouldn't exist if the algorithm recommended the right kind of videos to begin with. I am not even frustrated at this point anymore, I just realized that, like you, I find spending time on Youtube boring now, compared to some time ago.

 

[Can]

A month ago I deleted all my social media (Facebook, Instagram, even LinkedIn, etc.) - its all just stuff that they use to keep the people distracted, happy, and complacent - Always was a huge waste of time and it actually stresses me out to see the NWO content on those sites each time I login

I agree with the sentiment. The thing is, despite its flaws and the ways in which it is being used to manipulate people, social media still presents a place of massive opportunity. It can be used for good. The best example are places like this forum.

i just want to live a humble life where I get to MEET a
and SPEAK to people in person - what they're trying to take away from people

Yea, nothing substitutes real relationships with actual people.

 

[Can]

These days I don't even use the "not interested" option, because it seems that (at least in Abby Shapiro's case) Youtube goes out of its way to aggressively market stuff to you that you don't like. Maybe to drive rage-clicks and controversy?

Good thing there are browser addons to modify the platform. I have DF Tube (DF=Distraction Free) installed which blocks video recommendations, comments etc according to ones own liking, and also BlockTube which allows one to actually block videos and youtubers, so that their videos won't be recommended ever again. Makes Youtube a bit more useable, but still, it doesn't fix the bad algorithm.

 

[Can]

You find the good channels and subscribe to them. Plenty of people putting out quality content. Once subscribed to a good portfolio those are the types of vids you’re going to see. If the people you are subscribed to aren’t putting good content than that’s more of a slight against the content creators you’re subscribed to then YouTube itself.

I guess that is true to some degree, but then my point comes up again: How do I find good youtubers to subscribe to, if I am not recommended good videos to begin with?

I used to know a few people who put out really deep, insightful videos and I listened to their content for years and it reliably furthered my world view and expanded my consciousness - but after years of extensive listening, I pretty much feel like I exhausted their content and even they have started to get dull to me. If I listen to their videos now, I feel like I am stagnating more than I am growing, which was the opposite case when I started listening a few years ago. In other words, they don't push my thinking like they used to.

Are there content creators who would push my thinking? Probably. But I don't want my thinking to be pushed on random topics (I don't wanna be taught about things that are of little relevance to me) - there are specific things, hangups, particularities in my world view and philosophy that I feel like have to be addressed and fleshed out, and I have not found anyone who appeared to be able to further my thinking in these areas that seem most important to me in quite some time now.

 

[Can]

Read books.

I think reading can be great, but I also like listening or listening & watching sometimes. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Books are great for delivering information very thoroughly, but what I have come to like about listening is the organic nature of the delivery when something is being said spontaneously. I enjoy listening to people talk themselves, as that feels a lot more vivid and real, than books which are written and rewritten until any resemblance of spontaneity is gone.

I remember how I used to listen to Alan Watts a few years ago, and while I have moved past his teachings, those times have left a lasting mark on me. Hearing him lecture in his own voice, with his own cadence & way of speaking - there is something in that which you don't get from reading books. There is something more beautiful, playful and poetic than what I have been able to get from books.

Also, I wouldn't even know which books to read, lol. There are so many books to choose, but not all books are equally helpful. The same as with Youtube content. I have books here that I think have something interesting to say, but when I start to read them, I am just disappointed because they are not addressing the biggest questions and problems I have. Maybe I am just spoiled because Youtube would recommend the stuff that I needed the most to me at the right time in the past, and now it doesn't anymore, Idk.

 

[Can]

Yep. To handle Youtube properly, I find you need to ignore their home page. Search for channels that upload quality eye-opening content that you can learn from, subscribe to those channels and bookmark your 'Subscriptions' page.

DF Tube is an addon which allows one to block the home page and more. I highly recommend it to anyone who is fed up with their recommendations.

The issue I have with all 'alternative' video hosting websites is their content is 99% right wing doom and gloom who would be banned from Youtube. Nothing, or very little content that is interesting and insightful. Great if you want to be stuck in the doom and gloom mood.

I agree, lol. There are some golden nuggets there too, but it's just so drowned in bad and unhelpful content imo. Somewhat like Youtube, only that the content being used to drown the good stuff, is differently coated.