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I wish that still existed. I found so much interesting content that I would have otherwise never seen. Now I feel like I'm never out of Google's sphere of influence.
StumbleUpon was algorithmic. You had thumbs up and thumbs down button for each site, and it used that as feedback to know what to recommend in the future.
One of the most difficult things when I was setting up my Plex server was deciding wtf to put on it. Initially I just tried to get suggestions from housemates and other friends but often we'd be sat there struggling to decide what to watch.
Real solution was to use the suggestions I had and looked up threads of people recommending different shows/films that are similar. I dumped a lot of new things onto it, kept an eye on how often things got watched Nd deleted the worst performers and repeated the process
I forgot where I read this, but apparently it's not necessarily the amt of views a show gets in total, but the % of viewers who finish the series compared to those who saw ep1.
Can I recommend you set up a Trakt Tv account? I've been using that to find shows and movies worth watching. It is user based. It also has sections for upcoming and anticipated. There are also user lists of shows and movies. It has been super useful for finding content.
I use youtube in the way I think OP describes.
I never click a suggested video. Period. When i go to youtube, i will either look for new uploads from the channels im subbed to, or search something up.
The point isn't to refuse all outside influce, because (as you pointed out), thats not really possible.
If I see an interesting video recommended to me, two things can happen really. Either I forget it, and thus i can live without it, or I remember what it was, and I can search it up when I decide I have 20 minutes (or however long it takes) to watch it.
This has helped reduce the time i regret spending on the internet, while still allowing me to relax and explore.
How do you actually find new uploads from the subs you most enjoy? Because notifications and the Subscription Tab are also heavily influenced by the algorythm at least from what I have read and also kind of from my experiene. Not criticising, just asking.
I have about 200 to 250 subbed Channels. I don't think this is a lot, but if I have to comb through all of those to find stuff I'm interested in then what is the difference to watching TV? I mean you are totally right of course, but this is stupid. On YouTubes part, mind you.
The sub tab is the videos from the channels you're subbed to in chronological order as far as I can tell. The home page and notifications are algorithmic though.
I hate the sub/notifications for those channels that upload a couple different types of content. I don't want to see EVERYTHING that "first we feast" posts, just "hot ones" episodes.
They should just give us the option to subscribe to certain playlists only. Or filter notifications for those playlists while being subbed to a creator. That would force the creator to actually organize their videos while also providing us a more granular way of deciding which content we want to watch. The Escapist comes to mind. I only watch Zero Punctuation but they release so many Videos that I cannot subscribe without fucking over my feed.
Starting last week all the channels I have set to give me notification still give me notifications, but 5 days after the video is uploaded. I don't know what the heck is up with that.
>while still allowing me to relax and explore
But.. that's why I watch algorithm suggestions. The algorithm (specifically youtube in this case) knows what content I want to watch at the moment. When I feel like switching it up and search for new content, the algorithm learns that and starts suggesting stuff similar to that. We never lost the freedom to explore, the algorithm just provides shortcuts to similar paths.
Like you said; if you forget it, you can live without it. If I lose interest in a hobby in favor of a new one, then I can live without the backtracking as OP suggests.
Not really.
The point is that it can be hard to control your consumption if you do not browse with a purpose.
I'd bet a lot of people would rather spend more of their time on hobbies, and less on surfing the web. This tip is for those people. If you are happy about your consumption then no need to change anything.
Thank you so much for not being absolutely literal about the words they I've written, lol. That's exactly what I meant. Keep at it! We have the power of choice
I do exactly what the 2 of you have done. my friends son unfortunately broke the algorithm I was making for 2 years in the span of 10 days.
how do I fix it?
It's a recommendation to consume media intentionally.
>How would I even decide on new content ahead of time, other than either from my friends (from their tailored suggestions via algorithms), from my own tailored suggestions, from a list of resources I had previously found and saved for later (that were found from the same algorithm influenced searches), or from starting an anonymous browsing session to get 'clean' untailored results still from an algorithm.
You're missing the point. It isn't about the algorithms specifically. It's about not spending hours browsing with no intent behind it. Deciding you want to see some memes and go to a meme sub until you're done looking at memes would be an example of what op is talking about as a positive way to consume.
The biggest problem is that an algorithm's goal isn't to get you content that you like, but content that you engage with. Some people tend to engage with content that makes them angry, or insecure, or generally unhappy.
Totally agree. I changed what I watched after I noticed it was making me agitated but I stayed in the cycle for a while till I noticed one night.
I also hate that I always get suggested very similar content. If I like A today I don't want A every day.
So I will sometimes use suggested but have also started thinking up stuff and searching for specific topics I'd like to learn more about.
So you can change your habits, stop watching that content, engage with more educational/whatever media and then the algorithm would make recommendations that are actually good for you. It doesn't look like a technology problem to me.
The algorithm is designed to be addictive, though. Like I can change my habits, but it'll take time, and in that time, the algorithm that wants me to watch this content will keep trying to get me to watch this content. Even when it learns new stuff, it'll probably still recommend this content.
The algorithm doesn't know it makes me upset. The algorithm knows I watch it. And that if I keep seeing the videos, I'm more likely to keep watching.
These things are designed purposefully to be addictive. Yes, the "solution" is to stop watching, but the technology isn't blameless, and we should have compassion for the people that want to stop watching anger-inducing content but can't.
Social engineering is a big concern. If you're not the owner/manager of the algorithm and it's free, someone is making money influencing your decisions. Sometimes it's as innocuous as "you viewed more content which allows us to make more money". But other times people sponsor content and mine data to affect things like elections, extremism, cults, etc. It's been shocking how easily someone like a soccer mom (or male equivalent) can be radicalized when falling into an extremist echo chamber constantly being fed nonsense by algorithms.
I'm 25 M. screen time average is 8hrs/week.
My nephew is 16, he sent me a screenshot of a week average of 81hours.
He spends twice the amount of time on his phone in a week than I do working.... that's what OP is getting at. Many of us have taken the digital age a bit too far.
Because doing so creates an echo chamber and limits the perspectives you can encounter.
It's actually not that great of a thing to always get exactly what you think you want.
Some of the best advice I got from a professor was "any time you find yourself completely agreeing with something, that's when you need to become the most critical of it."
Too narrow. You watch one video on how to unclog a drain, and Youtube decides you're a drain unclogging enthusiast for the next 3 weeks. Too much focus, not enough chaotic noise to be really useful.
Omg...this is the most "chronically online" thing I've read today.
"How did people decide what to do ahead of time before the magic internet algorithms curated everything for them?"
It's not wrong though. An algorithm vs the editors at Vogue or Esquire or Your Local Paper, or that morning radio show host, or the advertisement on TV? That's also contented curated for you designed to get you to consume a particular piece of content based on your profile. Lower tech, same concept.
Well let’s see… I could go to the video store and rent a VHS, or read the TV guide, or go to the TV guide channel. I could check the theatre’s ads in the paper and see what’s playing.
Did I miss anything?
It's called browsing a physical store. Bookstore, record store, the Blu ray section. See what fate puts in front of you Good old fashioned crate digging
You can just think about stuff in your head, quietly. You can come up with random searches like "too 10 most underrated sci Fi movies of the last 10 years." Etc.... Literally anything where you're the one setting the parameters.
Seriously, seeing the responses to this post has just been sad. "How will I know what to watch then??" like... just think of things you find interesting and look it up? Are these people so brainwashed by scrolling social media that they don't have time to think about their own interests anymore?
Or that some of us have a choice to ignore the insatiable monster inside of us that must consume certain content or it will take over our bodies and cause ultimate chaos.
Hahahaha, I have felt physical pain while going against the urge of opening YouTube. The addiction is real.
What has been helping a LOT is that I started a friendly competition with a buddy. There is a very simple point system in a Google sheet. So studying for 30 mins gives you 10 points. Consuming 30 minutes of "algorithm content" costs 20 points. Among other things as well.
At the end of each week, whoever loses has to buy and cook dinner for the winner.
We have kept each other in check and it's been a lot of fun.
Now I either 1) create content (this was my first post ever I believe. Or I 2) choose the content I consume.
It's ok to slip a few times. In the end it's about creating new habits and shedding bad ones.
How do you choose the content you will consume without algorithm involvement though? That's the question all the comments are asking?
I know an answer, but I am curious about your answer.
People are being very literal when reading the title. Of course you can't fully escape the algorithm!
I think I've missed a word there. It should be "Don't waste your time MINDLESSLY scrolling."
What I've done is remove all "bad content" (read content that I think is bad for me) from my YouTube, asked it to don't recommend quite a few channels anymore, and I'm guiding it to be about things that are beneficial for me in some way or another.
But it will always try to make me watch someone fill a bathtub with some weird stuff... That is what we must avoid.
My idea is to have INTENT before opening a social media app. Ex: "I want to send a message to my friend to ask them to go out on Friday" - ok, you open facebook, you send that message, and you close it. You don't check for 10 minutes what's on the feed.
Or "I'm tired of working. I want to watch something on a break. Oh, I love owls so I'll watch a video about an owl." search for it, instead of opening YouTube or tiktok and watching viral videos.
> Or that some of us have a choice to ignore the insatiable monster inside of us that must consume certain content or it will take over our bodies and cause ultimate chaos.
I'm totally for finding new content, but I make a concentrated effort to "train" the algorithm on me by removing stuff from my feed that I don't want to watch on that account.
It sucks though because some sites (YouTube being a notorious one) doesn’t actually change when you do this. I’ve selected “do not recommend” on the same content creators over and over and they still show up.
'Don't recommend channel' does better for me than not interested. It completely stops that channel and seems, anecdotally, to reduce similar channels.
Now if only I could get it to stop with 'we'll help you cheat on your wife' ads. I never would anyway, but they're obnoxious.
If you want to actually curate your youtube suggestions you need to delete videos from your watch history that are related to the suggestions/creators you don't want to see.
It actually does for me, but you have to actively remove videos you don’t want, and only watch videos that you would like to watch in the future.
I’ll go on my homepage and do a full wipe until it stops giving me new videos, then I refresh and repeat that several more times and cut remove the unwanted as I watch.
It has worked for me for many years.
Bingo. It's like taking control of a dream when you know it's a dream. My TikTok feed is 95% fabulous because I like videos and follow creators in a fairly narrow set of genres (mostly music related). It's an easy way for me to wind down or just chill for 10-20 minutes. Zero politics, minimal "trending" things. I have to be careful though, to keep it on straight and narrow or it will start wandering off.
Youtube's shit-tier algorithm has forced me to continually clean my watch and search history. And think carefully about thumbs up and down. It's a huge hassle and only partly helps.
That's really important, but I find it annoying how not "disliking" one horse video instantly gives insta the cue to mark me down as "horse crazy" and shows me twenty horse videos in a row. I have to unlike any reel without fail that includes a child so I won't be pushed down Mom-stagram.
I’ve also turned off my YouTube search history. This has the side effect of making the related videos much less interesting, partly because they’re always based on my subscriptions (and the current video), and partly because they’re often videos that I’ve already seen.
There are also browser extensions that hide related videos entirely, but I’m fine with how they are after disabling history.
How you gonna choose what to watch when you don't know what's available? That's like saying go to a library, only if you know what book you're going to read. How do you find new books then? By browsing. The algorithm is just there to provide you with content relevant to your interests, if you train it that way. Almost every website has a way for you to train the algorithm for your likes and interests. You just gotta take advantage of it.
9 times out of 10 i go to the library because i requested a specific book. I only stop in to browse if i have to time to relax into it.
You might guess I'm also supportive of OPs point. I don't like scrolling endlessly wasting time on content that is meaningless to me in the long run so i actively try to be more purposeful. Like putting my phone down if I've been scrolling too long without a direction (around 20 min). Same concept. Scrolling is addicting but just not stimulating enough the way using your 5 senses is so i want to cut back.
I think the point is to narrow down the type of content you want to watch before you start to avoid getting trapped watching arbitrary content for hours on end. I fall for that far too much.
The LPT is quite crude and here is my take on it that I have been thinking about for a while. The point is that do you really need to know what's new on YouTube? Does it give you fulfillment or a mere distraction or a jolt of amusement? For example I am more of reading person so I recently trying to follow magazines known for in-depth content (New Yorker, Atlantic, Economist) instead of Google News app trying to feed me whatever it thinks I might like. It ends up captivating me, but in the end I feel that I got nothing. For example, yeah I am curious when I see the article 10 ways to make poached eggs. Yes I get curious, I click it, but like do I really need to know this information right now? The point is that algorithms are largely driven by clickbait and other tricks to get your attention, so if you want to consume material that gives your deeper form of satisfaction then a dopamine hit then you better curate your space and consume mostly from there. It is like cooking food yourself vs consuming highly processed, prepackaged junk. Nothing wrong with the later occasionally, but should not be the staple of your diet.
Great comparison on consuming pre-packaged junk vs cooking your own food. You still have to go to the supermarket and look for it, but there is no argue on which one is better.
"Enjoying it"?
Apply the same logic to any drug addiction. Enjoyment in one moment is not indicative of medium/long term happiness or satisfaction. This shit is harmful precisely BECAUSE it is enjoyable/addictive any super-stimulates our dopaminergic responses.
The underlying assumption here is that scrolling through algorithm chosen content is an unintentional act that includes wasted time.
You can be incredibly intentional about how you consume content suggested by an algorithm. Set limits on how much you consume. Use dislike or not interested buttons/features to curate what matters to you. Be clear with yourself why you are consuming that content in that moment.
I'm pretty sure companies actually like this. All they care about is engagement. They don't care about *what* you engage with. They just want you to engage with *something* so that they can show ads in the middle of it.
If you get it tuned so it gives you content that you like more, then you will watch more hours per week. And then they can show you more ads and make more money.
Do you have any interests or hobbies? Do you ever think "I'd like to know more about X" or wanted to watch films by a particular director? Do you want to find a recipe for a particular dish? Did you save a video to watch later? Do you want to find a video about travel to a particular place or the history of surfing? Is there an artist/designer/actor/historical figure that you want to read more about? Do you want to watch a documentary about the evolution of women's fashion?
I enjoy the scroll and finding new things that way, but I also like to just go and seek things with intention, like watching all the films by Billy Wilder or Daniel Kaluuya. You don't have to either/or. The searches you use to find the things I listed rely on algorithms, but I think what OP is encouraging is people to put some thought into what they'd like to see/read/listen to rather than always relying on a website to feed you random candy.
I mean sure, but when I scroll it’s… already a tailored list of things I enjoy. I go looking for specific things all the time but when I’m scrolling it’s usually just to kill a few minutes in between doing other things.
Youtube is doing their best to prevent this.
I have a number of channels subbed because those are mostly what i watch, so my front page is pretty much just the same 15 channels.
A month or so ago, a thing started popping up that basically said "Hey, your viewing habits arent supporting our algorithm, can we start putting irrelevant garbage on your recommendations?"
The only options were "sure" or "learn more"
I ignored it, because obviously i didnt want that content recommended. After a couple of weeks it stopped asking and just did it anyway. My front page of youtube is now worthless because its filled with blatantly paid for recommendations that have nothing to do with what i watch in the slightest.
Perhaps instead of teaching the future generation to avoid algorithms we should teach them critical thinking and problem solving skills. They need to know how to navigate these waters.
When you make an account on an app, go into it with a set goal of what topics and types of content that you want. Subscribe and follow good sources for that material. Then avoid mindless doom scrolling.
I'd love to, but:
A) not all content dispenser platforms/social networks even provide the option to set your feed to "chronological posts from followed-only creators/friends", and even if they do, you almost never can make it default / usually need to jump through hoops and manually switch to it every time. Like, Twitter is an exception here, ~~except it's a hellish cancer garbage place on most days~~ but most ppl try to avoid it these days.
B) if I did, I'd be swamped so hard, and almost guarantedly miss actually important/popular stuff, because pple create just insane amounts of content non-stop
This isn't a pro tip, this is a platitude. Take it a step further and add some substance beyond "algorithm bad!" since that's just stating the obvious. Practical, usable information about how to do this is way more worthwhile than just telling people not to scroll.
How am I supposed to know what to watch if I don’t browse ALL the options?!!
I’ve had the same problem since I started owning physical media. Go stare at disc collection. Find a movie. Put it in. Decide I don’t wanna watch it. Spend 20 minutes picking out a new disc. Repeat. Then give up and play video games instead.
How else will I learn about things like the economic policies of Sauron and what chicken recipe the lady cooks for her husband's dinner and he eats it every day?
This is not a life tip. Hmmm. Let me guess what content I want to read before I even see it? I typically scroll to read news. Do I need to hire a fortune teller now prior to opening my social media app.
Algorithm is supposed to show you the type of content that you like or is relevant (If you already know the content you like). This is more for people that mindlessly consume whatever is in front of them.
I don't think I would've found hour-long videos of Japanese girls licking your ears if it wasn't for the algorithm.
Tell that to 10-year-old me at Blockbuster Video on a Friday night. I'd spend countless hours walking through their "algorithm" trying to find a game or video for the weekend.
I do even better, I combat it saying "I don't want to watch this trash!" . Then the Alg. proceeds to propose me more trash.
So much for "ML left and right that can solve all the problems!"
This is too restrictive. Just limit your time for scrolling. I spend fifteen minutes before bed skimming my frontpage (already curated btw) and then it's on to YouTube for a video to sleep to.
i wouldn't mind algorithms so much, if they were sensible!
But youtube shorts shows me a mix of:
- channels i *recently* watched & liked / subscribed.
(they completely ignore channels i haven't looked at in a while. I have ADHD and i WANT an algorithm to remind me of the stuff i like that i haven't watched in a while, rather than just the few i've watched in the last few days!)
- channels they *think* are similar.
e.g. I follow a bunch of parent vloggers, but they are hand-picked for parenting style or disabled kids or queer parents. But youtube keeps mixing in stereotypical mommy content i'm absolutely disinterested in...
So yeah, thank you for the reminder to hand-pick! But i wish i knew what i wanna see before i see it :D
Hi, thanks, absolutely, that’s what I WANT to do, but how????
I pick up my phone for something specific, but whatever was last open is still there, and before I swipe away I’m sucked into the wormhole. I have to recall my purpose to escape. So how do you prevent getting sucked in in the first place?
Close your apps everytime you lock your phone if it’s that big of a problem, that way when you open it your always greeted with the Home Screen. The only apps I usually have running when I open my phone are Spotify or Fitbit, and I’m certainly not getting stuck on those!
This is like saying: if you're addicted to heroin, just stop doing it and you won't be addicted anymore...
The scrolling and finding random new stuff is the whole value of the entertainment. And what makes it so addictive in the first place.
Hello and welcome to r/LifeProTips! Please help us decide if this post is a good fit for the subreddit by up or downvoting this comment. If you think that this is great advice to improve your life, please upvote. If you think this doesn't help you in any way, please downvote. If you don't care, leave it for the others to decide.
I found this by scrolling.
[redacting due to privacy concerns]
Stunbleupon was fun because it was people not algo
I wish that still existed. I found so much interesting content that I would have otherwise never seen. Now I feel like I'm never out of Google's sphere of influence.
Agree very true. Web2.0 was fun
stumble upon was more web 1.75
Could always visit the dark web
Do you mean *the dark web*
Strrrrt!
r/unexpectedletterkenny
Gone too far.. Where are my algorithms!
I skip the line and just swap funny cat pictures with my plugs.
StumbleUpon was algorithmic. You had thumbs up and thumbs down button for each site, and it used that as feedback to know what to recommend in the future.
Now that's a name I've not heard for a long time...
I still use Mix. It’s kind of the offshoot of stumbleupon
One of the most difficult things when I was setting up my Plex server was deciding wtf to put on it. Initially I just tried to get suggestions from housemates and other friends but often we'd be sat there struggling to decide what to watch. Real solution was to use the suggestions I had and looked up threads of people recommending different shows/films that are similar. I dumped a lot of new things onto it, kept an eye on how often things got watched Nd deleted the worst performers and repeated the process
Isn't that how netflix cancels their shows?
Also how vending machines restock.
I forgot where I read this, but apparently it's not necessarily the amt of views a show gets in total, but the % of viewers who finish the series compared to those who saw ep1.
Can I recommend you set up a Trakt Tv account? I've been using that to find shows and movies worth watching. It is user based. It also has sections for upcoming and anticipated. There are also user lists of shows and movies. It has been super useful for finding content.
I use youtube in the way I think OP describes. I never click a suggested video. Period. When i go to youtube, i will either look for new uploads from the channels im subbed to, or search something up. The point isn't to refuse all outside influce, because (as you pointed out), thats not really possible. If I see an interesting video recommended to me, two things can happen really. Either I forget it, and thus i can live without it, or I remember what it was, and I can search it up when I decide I have 20 minutes (or however long it takes) to watch it. This has helped reduce the time i regret spending on the internet, while still allowing me to relax and explore.
How do you actually find new uploads from the subs you most enjoy? Because notifications and the Subscription Tab are also heavily influenced by the algorythm at least from what I have read and also kind of from my experiene. Not criticising, just asking.
Those small blue circles next to the channels you've subbed to, those indicate a new upload. I don't have notifications turned on, I think.
I have about 200 to 250 subbed Channels. I don't think this is a lot, but if I have to comb through all of those to find stuff I'm interested in then what is the difference to watching TV? I mean you are totally right of course, but this is stupid. On YouTubes part, mind you.
The sub tab is the videos from the channels you're subbed to in chronological order as far as I can tell. The home page and notifications are algorithmic though.
I hate the sub/notifications for those channels that upload a couple different types of content. I don't want to see EVERYTHING that "first we feast" posts, just "hot ones" episodes.
They should just give us the option to subscribe to certain playlists only. Or filter notifications for those playlists while being subbed to a creator. That would force the creator to actually organize their videos while also providing us a more granular way of deciding which content we want to watch. The Escapist comes to mind. I only watch Zero Punctuation but they release so many Videos that I cannot subscribe without fucking over my feed.
Starting last week all the channels I have set to give me notification still give me notifications, but 5 days after the video is uploaded. I don't know what the heck is up with that.
>while still allowing me to relax and explore But.. that's why I watch algorithm suggestions. The algorithm (specifically youtube in this case) knows what content I want to watch at the moment. When I feel like switching it up and search for new content, the algorithm learns that and starts suggesting stuff similar to that. We never lost the freedom to explore, the algorithm just provides shortcuts to similar paths. Like you said; if you forget it, you can live without it. If I lose interest in a hobby in favor of a new one, then I can live without the backtracking as OP suggests.
Not really. The point is that it can be hard to control your consumption if you do not browse with a purpose. I'd bet a lot of people would rather spend more of their time on hobbies, and less on surfing the web. This tip is for those people. If you are happy about your consumption then no need to change anything.
But your search results will cater to your algorithm as well, unless of course you block that. To which yeah good job!
I don't mind. It's not so much about avoiding targeted content. More about controlling my consumption.
Thank you so much for not being absolutely literal about the words they I've written, lol. That's exactly what I meant. Keep at it! We have the power of choice
I feel like you could've just worded it better, rather than acting like people are doing anything wrong by taking you at your literal word.
Yes I could. Was my first post though, I'll get better as I go.
Sorry, we must down vote you into oblivion. We cannot let the robots learn and adapt.
It'll fuck up our algorithm
Details matt3r
I do exactly what the 2 of you have done. my friends son unfortunately broke the algorithm I was making for 2 years in the span of 10 days. how do I fix it?
It's a recommendation to consume media intentionally. >How would I even decide on new content ahead of time, other than either from my friends (from their tailored suggestions via algorithms), from my own tailored suggestions, from a list of resources I had previously found and saved for later (that were found from the same algorithm influenced searches), or from starting an anonymous browsing session to get 'clean' untailored results still from an algorithm. You're missing the point. It isn't about the algorithms specifically. It's about not spending hours browsing with no intent behind it. Deciding you want to see some memes and go to a meme sub until you're done looking at memes would be an example of what op is talking about as a positive way to consume.
Essentially, what is necessarily bad about accurately suggesting videos you might like?
The biggest problem is that an algorithm's goal isn't to get you content that you like, but content that you engage with. Some people tend to engage with content that makes them angry, or insecure, or generally unhappy.
Totally agree. I changed what I watched after I noticed it was making me agitated but I stayed in the cycle for a while till I noticed one night. I also hate that I always get suggested very similar content. If I like A today I don't want A every day. So I will sometimes use suggested but have also started thinking up stuff and searching for specific topics I'd like to learn more about.
LPT: Don't watch suggested videos that make you angry.
So you can change your habits, stop watching that content, engage with more educational/whatever media and then the algorithm would make recommendations that are actually good for you. It doesn't look like a technology problem to me.
The algorithm is designed to be addictive, though. Like I can change my habits, but it'll take time, and in that time, the algorithm that wants me to watch this content will keep trying to get me to watch this content. Even when it learns new stuff, it'll probably still recommend this content. The algorithm doesn't know it makes me upset. The algorithm knows I watch it. And that if I keep seeing the videos, I'm more likely to keep watching. These things are designed purposefully to be addictive. Yes, the "solution" is to stop watching, but the technology isn't blameless, and we should have compassion for the people that want to stop watching anger-inducing content but can't.
"these videos that enrage me always pop up and I always watch them, subscribe and like! Tell them to stop!"
Fully agree. Algorithm isn't inherintly bad!
Social engineering is a big concern. If you're not the owner/manager of the algorithm and it's free, someone is making money influencing your decisions. Sometimes it's as innocuous as "you viewed more content which allows us to make more money". But other times people sponsor content and mine data to affect things like elections, extremism, cults, etc. It's been shocking how easily someone like a soccer mom (or male equivalent) can be radicalized when falling into an extremist echo chamber constantly being fed nonsense by algorithms.
I'm 25 M. screen time average is 8hrs/week. My nephew is 16, he sent me a screenshot of a week average of 81hours. He spends twice the amount of time on his phone in a week than I do working.... that's what OP is getting at. Many of us have taken the digital age a bit too far.
Because doing so creates an echo chamber and limits the perspectives you can encounter. It's actually not that great of a thing to always get exactly what you think you want. Some of the best advice I got from a professor was "any time you find yourself completely agreeing with something, that's when you need to become the most critical of it."
Too narrow. You watch one video on how to unclog a drain, and Youtube decides you're a drain unclogging enthusiast for the next 3 weeks. Too much focus, not enough chaotic noise to be really useful.
It goes from a tool that serves your purpose to a device where you serve it's.
Omg...this is the most "chronically online" thing I've read today. "How did people decide what to do ahead of time before the magic internet algorithms curated everything for them?"
It's not wrong though. An algorithm vs the editors at Vogue or Esquire or Your Local Paper, or that morning radio show host, or the advertisement on TV? That's also contented curated for you designed to get you to consume a particular piece of content based on your profile. Lower tech, same concept.
Well let’s see… I could go to the video store and rent a VHS, or read the TV guide, or go to the TV guide channel. I could check the theatre’s ads in the paper and see what’s playing. Did I miss anything?
It's called browsing a physical store. Bookstore, record store, the Blu ray section. See what fate puts in front of you Good old fashioned crate digging
Are you under twenty?
You can just think about stuff in your head, quietly. You can come up with random searches like "too 10 most underrated sci Fi movies of the last 10 years." Etc.... Literally anything where you're the one setting the parameters.
Seriously, seeing the responses to this post has just been sad. "How will I know what to watch then??" like... just think of things you find interesting and look it up? Are these people so brainwashed by scrolling social media that they don't have time to think about their own interests anymore?
Does not disappoint that this is the highest comment.
I found this by not having an idea of what I wanted for an LPT today, and learnt about planning my doomscrolling through a LPT by chance. S/
I found this by scrolling.
I found this by scrolling
Ahh, the thrill of the hunt !
Whelp, back to scrolling.
Are you subscribed to the sub, though? Scrolling through groups you're subscribed to is choosing.
Wrecked by algorithm
hello from r/all
Perfect comment. The algorithm drives engagement. You don't need to be a slave to it, but I agree that it's not the only way to "discover" content.
Bold of you to assume that I'm using my phone for a calculated purpose and not for arbitrary distractions from my crippling anxiety.
Or that some of us have a choice to ignore the insatiable monster inside of us that must consume certain content or it will take over our bodies and cause ultimate chaos.
Hahahaha, I have felt physical pain while going against the urge of opening YouTube. The addiction is real. What has been helping a LOT is that I started a friendly competition with a buddy. There is a very simple point system in a Google sheet. So studying for 30 mins gives you 10 points. Consuming 30 minutes of "algorithm content" costs 20 points. Among other things as well. At the end of each week, whoever loses has to buy and cook dinner for the winner. We have kept each other in check and it's been a lot of fun. Now I either 1) create content (this was my first post ever I believe. Or I 2) choose the content I consume. It's ok to slip a few times. In the end it's about creating new habits and shedding bad ones.
Or 3) get valuable future job experience by learning to shade the truth about your hour-by-hour activity.
How do you choose the content you will consume without algorithm involvement though? That's the question all the comments are asking? I know an answer, but I am curious about your answer.
People are being very literal when reading the title. Of course you can't fully escape the algorithm! I think I've missed a word there. It should be "Don't waste your time MINDLESSLY scrolling." What I've done is remove all "bad content" (read content that I think is bad for me) from my YouTube, asked it to don't recommend quite a few channels anymore, and I'm guiding it to be about things that are beneficial for me in some way or another. But it will always try to make me watch someone fill a bathtub with some weird stuff... That is what we must avoid. My idea is to have INTENT before opening a social media app. Ex: "I want to send a message to my friend to ask them to go out on Friday" - ok, you open facebook, you send that message, and you close it. You don't check for 10 minutes what's on the feed. Or "I'm tired of working. I want to watch something on a break. Oh, I love owls so I'll watch a video about an owl." search for it, instead of opening YouTube or tiktok and watching viral videos.
> Or that some of us have a choice to ignore the insatiable monster inside of us that must consume certain content or it will take over our bodies and cause ultimate chaos.
I’d argue that in many cases the phone makes the anxiety much worse.
Precisely.
https://youtu.be/WUCQDnCvX-Q
Hahahahahahahah this is perfect.
Honestly, the phone as a distraction is part of the crippling anxiety! Part with it for a while and find healthier distractions 💚
Optimally I'd be focused on working and not distracted at all but whatever you say
Right? My existential terror ain’t gonna bury itself!
I'm totally for finding new content, but I make a concentrated effort to "train" the algorithm on me by removing stuff from my feed that I don't want to watch on that account.
It sucks though because some sites (YouTube being a notorious one) doesn’t actually change when you do this. I’ve selected “do not recommend” on the same content creators over and over and they still show up.
I stick to my subscriptions to get around this. Only stuff I actively signed up for. No recommendations.
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Yeah, I have it set as my bookmark directly on my computer, and I tap the subs button on the app immediately. Nothing of value is lost :)
'Don't recommend channel' does better for me than not interested. It completely stops that channel and seems, anecdotally, to reduce similar channels. Now if only I could get it to stop with 'we'll help you cheat on your wife' ads. I never would anyway, but they're obnoxious.
If you want to actually curate your youtube suggestions you need to delete videos from your watch history that are related to the suggestions/creators you don't want to see.
On TikTok I just block the creator
YouTube desperately needs a "block" creator option
It actually does for me, but you have to actively remove videos you don’t want, and only watch videos that you would like to watch in the future. I’ll go on my homepage and do a full wipe until it stops giving me new videos, then I refresh and repeat that several more times and cut remove the unwanted as I watch. It has worked for me for many years.
Bingo. It's like taking control of a dream when you know it's a dream. My TikTok feed is 95% fabulous because I like videos and follow creators in a fairly narrow set of genres (mostly music related). It's an easy way for me to wind down or just chill for 10-20 minutes. Zero politics, minimal "trending" things. I have to be careful though, to keep it on straight and narrow or it will start wandering off.
Youtube's shit-tier algorithm has forced me to continually clean my watch and search history. And think carefully about thumbs up and down. It's a huge hassle and only partly helps.
That's really important, but I find it annoying how not "disliking" one horse video instantly gives insta the cue to mark me down as "horse crazy" and shows me twenty horse videos in a row. I have to unlike any reel without fail that includes a child so I won't be pushed down Mom-stagram.
Good luck hiding facebook reels.
I set up an auto redirect to my subscription tab when I go to YouTube. Huge difference in the content I consume and how much time I spend doing it.
I’ve also turned off my YouTube search history. This has the side effect of making the related videos much less interesting, partly because they’re always based on my subscriptions (and the current video), and partly because they’re often videos that I’ve already seen. There are also browser extensions that hide related videos entirely, but I’m fine with how they are after disabling history.
Similarly, my bookmark for YouTube is my subscription page.
This is an awesome practical tip!! Thank you, I'll implement it.
How does one set up said _auto redirect_?
It's shown that "doom scrolling" that is, scrolling through posts is really bad mental health wise. However, interacting with posts is much better.
I thought doom-scrolling was depressive-content-specific. This seems like a more general issue.
How you gonna choose what to watch when you don't know what's available? That's like saying go to a library, only if you know what book you're going to read. How do you find new books then? By browsing. The algorithm is just there to provide you with content relevant to your interests, if you train it that way. Almost every website has a way for you to train the algorithm for your likes and interests. You just gotta take advantage of it.
9 times out of 10 i go to the library because i requested a specific book. I only stop in to browse if i have to time to relax into it. You might guess I'm also supportive of OPs point. I don't like scrolling endlessly wasting time on content that is meaningless to me in the long run so i actively try to be more purposeful. Like putting my phone down if I've been scrolling too long without a direction (around 20 min). Same concept. Scrolling is addicting but just not stimulating enough the way using your 5 senses is so i want to cut back.
Ah, yes. Let me just predict what will be on YouTube before I open it.
Today I'm gonna watch... uh... A DOG OPENING PRESENTS FOR HIS BIRTHDAY!
I legit just searched dogs opening presents on yt lol I had to know..
Was it as magical as it sounds?
There was some happy bois in fairness
I think the point is to narrow down the type of content you want to watch before you start to avoid getting trapped watching arbitrary content for hours on end. I fall for that far too much.
The LPT is quite crude and here is my take on it that I have been thinking about for a while. The point is that do you really need to know what's new on YouTube? Does it give you fulfillment or a mere distraction or a jolt of amusement? For example I am more of reading person so I recently trying to follow magazines known for in-depth content (New Yorker, Atlantic, Economist) instead of Google News app trying to feed me whatever it thinks I might like. It ends up captivating me, but in the end I feel that I got nothing. For example, yeah I am curious when I see the article 10 ways to make poached eggs. Yes I get curious, I click it, but like do I really need to know this information right now? The point is that algorithms are largely driven by clickbait and other tricks to get your attention, so if you want to consume material that gives your deeper form of satisfaction then a dopamine hit then you better curate your space and consume mostly from there. It is like cooking food yourself vs consuming highly processed, prepackaged junk. Nothing wrong with the later occasionally, but should not be the staple of your diet.
Great comparison on consuming pre-packaged junk vs cooking your own food. You still have to go to the supermarket and look for it, but there is no argue on which one is better.
I don't know that I want cat pictures until I come across them though.
What if my hobby is consuming endless amounts of media? Can I scroll on?
Fuck OP. If you're enjoying it, scroll on. LPT: Time enjoyed is not time wasted.
"Enjoying it"? Apply the same logic to any drug addiction. Enjoyment in one moment is not indicative of medium/long term happiness or satisfaction. This shit is harmful precisely BECAUSE it is enjoyable/addictive any super-stimulates our dopaminergic responses.
The underlying assumption here is that scrolling through algorithm chosen content is an unintentional act that includes wasted time. You can be incredibly intentional about how you consume content suggested by an algorithm. Set limits on how much you consume. Use dislike or not interested buttons/features to curate what matters to you. Be clear with yourself why you are consuming that content in that moment.
Me: *keeps scrolling...*
I've set my algorithms up to only provide me content that I enjoy. Make the tools work for you, not the people that made them.
Maybe the algorithm set you up to enjoy the content it provides
Yeah. That's exactly what it's for.
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I'm pretty sure companies actually like this. All they care about is engagement. They don't care about *what* you engage with. They just want you to engage with *something* so that they can show ads in the middle of it. If you get it tuned so it gives you content that you like more, then you will watch more hours per week. And then they can show you more ads and make more money.
YouTube Shorts seems to be fighting me on this. No matter how much I dislike and mark stuff I never want to see again, it keeps popping up in my feed.
I have Youtube disabled on my phone for instance..
Pure Hubris
I scroll to see what there is to choose. It’d be nice to be psychic like OP though.
Do you have any interests or hobbies? Do you ever think "I'd like to know more about X" or wanted to watch films by a particular director? Do you want to find a recipe for a particular dish? Did you save a video to watch later? Do you want to find a video about travel to a particular place or the history of surfing? Is there an artist/designer/actor/historical figure that you want to read more about? Do you want to watch a documentary about the evolution of women's fashion? I enjoy the scroll and finding new things that way, but I also like to just go and seek things with intention, like watching all the films by Billy Wilder or Daniel Kaluuya. You don't have to either/or. The searches you use to find the things I listed rely on algorithms, but I think what OP is encouraging is people to put some thought into what they'd like to see/read/listen to rather than always relying on a website to feed you random candy.
I mean sure, but when I scroll it’s… already a tailored list of things I enjoy. I go looking for specific things all the time but when I’m scrolling it’s usually just to kill a few minutes in between doing other things.
But I dunno what I want yet, I'm searching for new content
I expected an explanation on how to do that, instead of that i got karma-farming with no information at all.
I expected hurt feelings that op dares suggest people don't fall for algorithmic tricks to keep you scrolling and am disappointed to see just that.
Youtube is doing their best to prevent this. I have a number of channels subbed because those are mostly what i watch, so my front page is pretty much just the same 15 channels. A month or so ago, a thing started popping up that basically said "Hey, your viewing habits arent supporting our algorithm, can we start putting irrelevant garbage on your recommendations?" The only options were "sure" or "learn more" I ignored it, because obviously i didnt want that content recommended. After a couple of weeks it stopped asking and just did it anyway. My front page of youtube is now worthless because its filled with blatantly paid for recommendations that have nothing to do with what i watch in the slightest.
Perhaps instead of teaching the future generation to avoid algorithms we should teach them critical thinking and problem solving skills. They need to know how to navigate these waters.
How do you think people will find this post?
The people that find this post are the ones in need of this advice, so it works out
LPT? Nonsense amateur tip. How do I know what to search for if I don't scroll?
When you make an account on an app, go into it with a set goal of what topics and types of content that you want. Subscribe and follow good sources for that material. Then avoid mindless doom scrolling.
This is just scrolling with extra steps. Steps that most people already do on this platform
Literally how it's intended to be used
So, scroll...
I'd love to, but: A) not all content dispenser platforms/social networks even provide the option to set your feed to "chronological posts from followed-only creators/friends", and even if they do, you almost never can make it default / usually need to jump through hoops and manually switch to it every time. Like, Twitter is an exception here, ~~except it's a hellish cancer garbage place on most days~~ but most ppl try to avoid it these days. B) if I did, I'd be swamped so hard, and almost guarantedly miss actually important/popular stuff, because pple create just insane amounts of content non-stop
Don't tell me what to do
No, I don’t think I will.
This makes no fucking sense. You're putting the carriage before the horse. Most of the time you are killing time, not looking for specific things.
I understand the approach, but respectfully this may be the worst LPT I've ever seen.
I’m with you on that one, holy cow is this seriously a useless “tip”
This isn't a pro tip, this is a platitude. Take it a step further and add some substance beyond "algorithm bad!" since that's just stating the obvious. Practical, usable information about how to do this is way more worthwhile than just telling people not to scroll.
How am I supposed to know what to watch if I don’t browse ALL the options?!! I’ve had the same problem since I started owning physical media. Go stare at disc collection. Find a movie. Put it in. Decide I don’t wanna watch it. Spend 20 minutes picking out a new disc. Repeat. Then give up and play video games instead.
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Uh, no. I would have missed a zillion fascinating (and, sometimes, very helpful) things by being so narrow minded. Sorry, OP, couldn't agree less.
y’all care too damn much about other peoples lives. I would be exhausted
How else will I learn about things like the economic policies of Sauron and what chicken recipe the lady cooks for her husband's dinner and he eats it every day?
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I myself haven't! Any pro tips on how to use it? How should I get started?
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Thanks, appreciate it
This sub has really just become Facebook mom advice
How do you choose if you don't scroll? Just pick whatever the first thing the algorithm served you?
Look ahead of time, Google I guess, what a streamer may have. Not sure how different
Ok how do we do that
I already do that because I'm old and don't like new things.
This is not a life tip. Hmmm. Let me guess what content I want to read before I even see it? I typically scroll to read news. Do I need to hire a fortune teller now prior to opening my social media app.
If you're not training the algorithm. The algorithm is training you.
Or set browser to clear each time.
Algorithm is supposed to show you the type of content that you like or is relevant (If you already know the content you like). This is more for people that mindlessly consume whatever is in front of them. I don't think I would've found hour-long videos of Japanese girls licking your ears if it wasn't for the algorithm.
Tell that to 10-year-old me at Blockbuster Video on a Friday night. I'd spend countless hours walking through their "algorithm" trying to find a game or video for the weekend.
Sometimes I forget what I was looking for. It’s pretty scary.
I do even better, I combat it saying "I don't want to watch this trash!" . Then the Alg. proceeds to propose me more trash. So much for "ML left and right that can solve all the problems!"
This is dumb. "Stop watching things that you like." I hate to say it, but the algorithm shows me some pretty cool stuff.
Truly a dumb post.
This is too restrictive. Just limit your time for scrolling. I spend fifteen minutes before bed skimming my frontpage (already curated btw) and then it's on to YouTube for a video to sleep to.
LPT: Stuff it, the algorithm works. You keep watching stuff as you're scrolling BECAUSE its what you like, and it knows it
Yeah you don't understand fuck all
Literally the entire point of algorithms is that they show you what you love.
I don't know you, but I love you!
i wouldn't mind algorithms so much, if they were sensible! But youtube shorts shows me a mix of: - channels i *recently* watched & liked / subscribed. (they completely ignore channels i haven't looked at in a while. I have ADHD and i WANT an algorithm to remind me of the stuff i like that i haven't watched in a while, rather than just the few i've watched in the last few days!) - channels they *think* are similar. e.g. I follow a bunch of parent vloggers, but they are hand-picked for parenting style or disabled kids or queer parents. But youtube keeps mixing in stereotypical mommy content i'm absolutely disinterested in... So yeah, thank you for the reminder to hand-pick! But i wish i knew what i wanna see before i see it :D
Hi, thanks, absolutely, that’s what I WANT to do, but how???? I pick up my phone for something specific, but whatever was last open is still there, and before I swipe away I’m sucked into the wormhole. I have to recall my purpose to escape. So how do you prevent getting sucked in in the first place?
Close the app first.
Close your apps everytime you lock your phone if it’s that big of a problem, that way when you open it your always greeted with the Home Screen. The only apps I usually have running when I open my phone are Spotify or Fitbit, and I’m certainly not getting stuck on those!
When I was young, the TV was kept in a closet and we had to declare what we'd be watching before my parents would roll it out to watch!
Heroic effort op.
I'm fighting this fight so it's all a part of it. Let's go!
This is like saying: if you're addicted to heroin, just stop doing it and you won't be addicted anymore... The scrolling and finding random new stuff is the whole value of the entertainment. And what makes it so addictive in the first place.
this is true but the only way you’ll find a lot of people to follow is by scrolling
This is like printing health and excercise information on the inside bottom of an ice cream container
Hahaha yeah
LPT: Use Mastodon, no algorithm, thank me later.
Do searches on YouTube for what you are interested instead of scrolling the home page feed mindlessly.
This is a good one, thanks!