Generally the algorithm tries to recommend "controversial" content as that makes people spend more time on the platform which leads to you in turn seeing more ads in that time.
As to any specifics, nobody knows. Even Google engineers have no clue as they have no granual control of that algorithm.
I see this "drives engagement" claim all the time and at first glance it makes sense. But why would they do things like remove recommendations completely for users without watch history turned on? That is the exact opposite of driving engagement.
They need watch history to be able to track different metrics about you so it's a gamble to make people that are used to relying on those recommendations to turn it back on. And they don't remove recommendations completely, just from the home page as far as I know. I don't use YouTube native client.
I guarantee that they still keep everyone's watch history whether they consent or not. Facebook has been building shadow profiles on people for years. It's reasonable to surmise that all major tech companies do the same. They simply removed the usefulness for the user but they still keep and profit from it for themselves.
Anecdotally, before they removed recommendations for not having a watch history I would still need to create new accounts on occasion due to being locked into the same recommendations based on my watch history. Even though I opted out of watch history from the time of account creation.
I tried looking for positive stories about trans people to show one of my friends who was going down a conservative transphobic rabbit hole.
I couldn't for the life of my find anything other than videos by Fox News, Ben Shapiro and other conservative talking heads and alt-right conspiracy accounts.
Then I later found out through an article of an online magazine about one trans teen person who said their YouTube channel was being banned and an their content blocked. They were just videos of their daily lives as a trans person and the challenges they faced.
Social networks receive money by powerful conservative media groups to push their content up and establish policies in their favor.
Vaguely related: yesterday I subscribed to a Japanese guitarist's channel and then Youtube started spamming my feed with Hungarian political videos. Someone tell me how THAT works, lol. I only ever watch weeb stuff on Youtube.
I started getting those too. Only recent Asian YouTube material I've been watching has been a podcast in Japan and one Piece anime clips lol. I get the South China posts every day now.
Ah yes, SCMP is truly a pro-China news source. Nevermind that it's blocked in mainland China.
... like TikTok
I can only report what I see from the recommendations
The truth is hard, sometimes.
Apparently other outlets have noticed a shift in it being an Occupied China mouthpiece since Alibaba bought it in 2016
Doesn't SoftBank/Yahoo hold almost a majority of Alibaba stock... And that Alibaba explicitly didn't list in Hong Kong and chose to list in the US instead?
SCMP has published some fairly critical articles recently:
"China's hi-tech ambitions under threat from inadequate scientific literacy"
"'Somebody has to eat the cost': China's monumental local debt challenge mounts"
"China banning clothes that hurt national feelings would be a sitch too far"
And articles that deviate from standard Chinese policy:
"Marriage equality is clearly the best choice for Hong Kong"
"More LGBTQ rights could help Asia financial hubs draw global talent"
As well as commentary on the Hong Kong report about radiation from Japan-imported fish.
Nevermind that Jack Ma is perhaps most notorious for being intensely critical of Chinese regulators. Indeed, Alibaba IPOed in the US instead of Hong Kong solely so Jack Ma could maintain more control over the governance structure of the company.
Since the change of ownership in 2016, concerns have been raised about the paper's editorial independence and self-censorship. Critics including The New York Times, Der Spiegel, and The Atlantic have alleged that the paper is on a mission to promote China's soft power abroad.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_China_Morning_Post
You can follow the sources there to their articles
But now you know :)
Ah yes, citing Wikipedia... who's sources explicitly state that Beijing never contacts them and that Jack Ma'a policy has been to be skeptical of the government's role. Classic.
It's only Beijing that we never hear from, he says. He adds that he wishes that were different.
...
Describing the ideal relationship between companies and the government, Jack Ma has said something along the lines of: "Go ahead and flirt with it, but don't marry it."
...
The paper still reports extremely critically on issues that the Chinese state media avoids.
...
Executive Vice President Joseph Tsai, for example, has complained that the Western media reports on China in a biased and one-sided way because they disagree with communism. He has said that the South China Morning Post should report on things "as they are."
Turns out, when you shift your focus from being a purely Hong Kong-oriented paper to an international one, your editorial scope changes.
When in Hong Kong writing about mainland China, you can afford to be more critical because your readership has a pretty fair view of mainland China (given that, y'know, they're literally right beside it}. When writing for the international audience, there are far more things that need to be cleared up.
As I showed above, SCMP is clearly deviating pretty far from Beijing's policy (in large part because Alibaba and Jack Ma have always maintained a somewhat skeptical stance relative to the government) and often comes out openly against Beijing's positions. All you've shown me is people saying "oh no but Alibaba is Chinese and China is bad and thus SCMP is bad." Just the tiniest but racist, don't you think?
I gave you my own experience, you didn’t believe it
I used Wikipedia as a link aggregator for you to see more reputable interpretations
https://www.youtube.com/@SouthChinaMorningPost/videos
Find the anti-CCP video
I found anti Korea and anti Japan instantly
I can find an anti-China video:
https://youtu.be/eI6a4xRwLQQ?si=1c5yJlUutFDpy7jr
https://youtu.be/0AOUKMZOImM?si=9YTZcJA1O30rp-5y
https://youtu.be/DHl89m6dkYY?si=_VAqL2waYsdffyvg
https://youtu.be/9xhwKeqG_p8?si=JgGYnZH8SB9aiCpc
Meanwhile your source is... Fucking Wikipedia lmfao. The article isn't even cited properly given that it mentions 3 sources and only links to two. There's a reason Wikipedia isn't considered a reliable source.
My source was myself, I gave you Wikipedia to let you click through to more than one source of other opinions
Stop being an idiot
I'm an idiot because I gave you videos contrary to your point? How is it my fault that Google thinks you're on an anti-Japan/anti-Korean binge?
Not everything is a conspiracy against you. Google thought that those recommendations would get you to think about YouTube more (and eventually watch more content). Judging by your behaviour, I'm guessing it was right.
You’re an idiot for getting hung up on seeing a Wikipedia link
Ah yes, because you refuse to see evidence contradicting your point (i.e. first party source) and choose to hide behind second- and third-party "sources."
Classic.
It was faster for me to post 1 link that already had 2 links on it than it was for me to post those 2 links and I over estimated your intelligence in being able to click through
Those links still aren't first-party sources, though? Either way, I quoted from that article and I did provide first-party evidence, neither of which you have addressed. There is nothing to indicate that, as you claim, SCMP only posts pro-China and anti-Korea/anti-Japan content.
Do you enjoy being confidently wrong, or do you just enjoy being confident and are wrong by circumstance?
Increasing tourism isn’t anti-ccp
Phone harassment maybe but it’s a stretch to think someone seeing that is going to think it is state sponsored
Falling housing market is just normal news
Unemployment is just normal news
Did you actually watch the videos, or do you just look at the title and make your conclusion? Here's some more:
https://youtu.be/zt7afB22S1U?si=JcN7vZrswgtLS69G
https://youtu.be/Ug2Eeflo5ao?si=5J9HwdLwOJuRctQS
https://youtu.be/CTU0FNo5HE8?si=0q1vp_t3SEzd4OUQ
And here's some more pro-Japan/Korea content:
https://youtu.be/T30C3-K-PmA?si=KgioEIEVDli5SCqi
https://youtu.be/VucIYdBvsCM?si=l8xbHPOWBblQi0CP
What exactly is this viscerally anti-Japan/Korea government content you speak of?
There is no such thing as a Stupid Question!
Don't be embarrassed of your curiosity; everyone has questions that they may feel uncomfortable asking certain people, so this place gives you a nice area not to be judged about asking it. Everyone here is willing to help.
Reminder that the rules for lemmy.ca still apply!
Thanks for reading all of this, even if you didn't read all of this, and your eye started somewhere else, have a watermelon slice 🍉.
