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submitted 1 year ago by V01t45@lemmy.fmhy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

Hi, I am a guy in early thirties with a wife and two kids and whenever I go on youtube it always suggests conservative things like guys dunking on women, ben shapiro reacting to some bullshit, joe rogan, all the works. I almost never allow it to go to that type of video and when I do it is either by accident or by curiosity. My interest are gaming, standup comedy, memes, react videos, metalurgy, machining, blacksmithing, with occasional songs and videos about funny bullshit and I am not from america and I consider myself pretty liberal if I had to put it into terms used in america. But european liberal, so by american standards a socialist. Why does it recommend this shit to me, is this some kind of vector for radicalization of guys in my category? Do you have similar experience?

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[-] Machinist@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago

Machining and blacksmithing are highly correlated with right wing BS in the US. Check my uname and ask me how I know. 😁

[-] FierroGamer@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago

This one may not be so obvious, but I've seen someone lose their marbles over the crazy idea that they get recommended stuff for children when all they watch on YouTube is Minecraft videos and sometimes Roblox. And people in the comments agreed...

The YouTube subreddit wasn't full of bright people.

[-] SeaJ@lemm.ee 24 points 1 year ago

Your interests have a strong correlation with people on the right aside from maybe react videos.

But even if your interested were not so strongly correlated with the right, you would probably still get right wing ads or videos suggested. They garner the highest engagement because it is often outrage porn. Google gets their money that way. My subscriptions are to let wing political channels, science, and solar channels but I still get a decent amount of PragerU and Matt Walsh ads. Reporting then does not stop them from popping up either.

[-] cuppaconcrete@aussie.zone 6 points 1 year ago

Yeah big tech loves to throw dumb stuff your way to piss you off and keep you engaged, even if you've never shown an interest before.

[-] bobthened@feddit.uk 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

My interest are gaming, standup comedy, memes, react videos, metalurgy, machining, blacksmithing,

Because a lot of the type of guys who like seeing those stupid conservative videos also like many of the same things as you. Gaming^(TM) is well known to have a problem with the alt-right, react videos have a very similar structure to conservative “libs destroyed with fact and logic” types of videos, and finally a lot of conservatives like to think of themselves as an old fashioned man’s-man so they enjoy things like metalwork and other typical “manly” careers.

[-] MooseBoys@programming.dev 3 points 1 year ago

Pretty sure this is it - I see them as well but my interests are science education, gaming, and 3D printing.

[-] stiephel@feddit.de 15 points 1 year ago

I'm 30 and have a small family, too. When I watch shorts on YouTube I get the exact same content you're describing. None of the long videos I'm watching are political, yet the Algo keeps throwing them at me. I get a lot of Jordan Peterson crap or lil Wayne explaining how there's no racism. I hate it.

[-] AFaithfulNihilist@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

The lil Wayne stuff is so strange. Usually when some specific celebrity pops up in my feed I assume their publicist is rehabbing their image after some public incident or recently exposed private conflict. YouTube shorts isn't like that.

YouTube shorts seems to be exclusively just a pipeline to rightwing talking points and the unfunniest parts of stand up comedy framed to serve the same rightwing pipeline.

[-] josephsh98@lemmy.kde.social 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You most probably viewed these types of videos a few times and the algorithm started recommending them to you. It only takes a couple of videos for the algorithm to start recommending video of the same topic. You could easily solve this by clicking on the 3 dots next to the video and then selecting "Not interested", do it enough times and they'll be gone from your feed.

[-] Max_P@lemmy.max-p.me 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This, the algorithm doesn't care whether you ~~like~~ enjoy it or not, it cares whether you engage with it or not. Even dislikes are engagement.

[-] Viper_NZ@lemmy.nz 4 points 1 year ago

I am constantly bombarded with Jordan Peterson videos despite disliking them and telling the algorithm to show less like this.

I’m not sure how it profiles people, but it sucks.

[-] can@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

Disliking is engagement. Instead tap the three dots and select "not interested"

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[-] Eldritch@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

You don't even have to watch those types of videos. I got watching Star Trek lore videos etc. And got off on to one channel in particular. Whose videos always ended up devolving into rants against SJW and leftists. This from someone who posts lore videos on a show about luxury gay space communism. But simply because of apparently a large portion of his viewership also engages with the bigotry and hatred. I started getting tons of recommendations for shit that I have never watched and would never watch.

But yes Mark not interested and delete from history was the best way to get it out.

[-] TwoGems@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Because the algorithms favor alt right garbage heaps and the companies will never bother to fix them. Hence why we need some regulations.

[-] winterayars@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago

Let's be honest. The companies only really care about "engagement" and the Right is more than happy to provide that.

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[-] AlexWIWA@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 year ago

If you watch any kind of gaming videos, and haven't trained your algorithm, then you'll get flooded with this shit

[-] Poob@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

If I accidently watch a Linus Tech tips video, that will be all it recommends me for the next month.

I watched a Some More News video criticizing Jordan Peterson, and Google thought "did I hear Jordan Peterson? Well in that case, here's 5 of his videos!"

Almost all content algorithms are hot garbage that are not interested in serving you what you want, just what makes money. It always ends up serving right wing nut jobs because that conspiracy theorists watch a lot of scam videos.

Edit: my little jab at Linus has nothing to do with politics. I have no idea what his views are. I only mentioned it to point out how YouTube will annihilate my recommendations if I watch a single one of his videos.

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[-] ChaoticEntropy@feddit.uk 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I almost never allow it

The times you do allow it are all the algorithm cares about, sadly. Any kind of engagement is great for companies.

"Hate Rogan? Cool, watch some Rogan as hateporn, hate watching is still watching."

[-] bownt@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago

you are a closet conservative. the algoritham has spoken.

[-] CurlyWurlies4All@prxs.site 6 points 1 year ago
[-] foggy@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It sees you like standup comedy (POTENTIALLY ANTI-WOKE) and gaming (POTENTIALLY INCEL) and in your 30s (LIKELY HAS SOME DISPOSABLE INCOME)

So it's pipelining you to the annals of YouTube that check those boxes, have very good viewer retention and have good user engagement.

The ones with good user engagement are the ones that raise your blood pressure. They make you angry. So, politics, or dirty cops, interrogations, murder stories, stuff like that.

You can resist them all you want, but stuff that makes people angry and chatty and commenty and re-watchy is like cocaine to the algorithm. It makes them money, so they spam it everywhere it even remotely makes sense to try to get you stuck in their quicksand.

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[-] kava@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I get right wing stuff only on YouTube shorts typically. And I think it's because I'll watch them. I find it interesting in a detached sense.

Good to know what you're up against. Same reason I try and watch as many Trump speeches as I reasonably can.

[-] Hikermick@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

"The calls are coming from inside the house"~~__****

[-] RocksForBrains@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Conservative proganda is a highly coordinated and well-funded network. They pay for preference.

[-] chakan2@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

It's not that so much as Howard Stern theory. The people that like that stuff, click on it and move on.

The people that hate that stuff hate it enough to interact with it... That means more time on the site, more ads, more revenue.

It's just the hate algorithms... They're lucrative.

[-] yoz@aussie.zone 3 points 1 year ago

This can't be any more clearer

Android TV- install smartnexttube Android phone- Set private DNS to Nextdns and block all ads + install firefox w/ unlock origin Or if you want an app install - newpipe from fdroid app store

[-] donut4ever@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

You've probably watched the other side quite often, so YouTube is recommending this for ya to enrage you and keep you engaged. Just good old rage bating

[-] ezmack@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Hi, I am a guy in early thirties with a wife and two kids and whenever I go on youtube it always suggests conservative things like guys dunking on women

Yeah it really wants me to watch Tim pool. Its like cmon guys I'm too old for that guys tastes. Tiktok will atleast take the hint

[-] lustyargonian@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

I think such content gets most engagement. Dunking on leftist ideas brings right wingers celebrating and parroting the piece while pissed left wingers trying to explain why the argument doesn't make sense.

[-] IDe@lemmy.one 3 points 1 year ago

The best way to tune the algorithm on Youtube is to aggressively prune your watch/search history.
Even just one "stereotypical" video can cause your recommendations to go to shit.

[-] Dohnakun@lemmy.fmhy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

Just ignore the recommendations, it's mostly bulkshit anyway.

[-] omidmnz@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-recommended-videos/ Unhook "ignore"s them for me! It is available for other browsers too.

[-] EssentialCoffee@midwest.social 3 points 1 year ago

Like others have said, the things you watch are prime interests for right wing in the US. You have to train the algorithm that you don't want it.

[-] GoodEye8@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I think the algorithm is so distorted by right-wing engagement that it will end up recommend right-wing content, even if you actively try to avoid it. I watch youtube shorts and I always skip if it's Shapiro, Peterson, Tate or Pierce Morgan. I also skip the moment I feel like the shorts might be right-wing. Scroll enough and eventually the algorithm will go "How about some Shapiro, Peterson, Tate or Morgan?" Give it enough time and it will always try to feed you right-wing content.

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[-] forgotmylastusername@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

A while back the conservative party of Canada was caught inserting MGTOW / Ben Shapiro tags on all their Youtube uploads. In other words they were poisoning peoples social graph in order to cause exactly what you're talking about.

This is why I use a Google account that is only for Youtube entertainment. I keep it on a separate chromium profile. I turn on all the privacy toggles in the Google account. Only Youtube history is turned on. I curate the watch history.

You cannot tell what content might have breadcrumbs that eventually open the floodgates of far right echo chambers. They do this intentionally. So it requires active measures on your part to counter them. You've got to manage your account with intention. I do not use that account at all for random browsing. I usually do that in incognito on a different browser.

[-] GentlemenPreferBongs@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

I've been vegetarian since 2009 and in the past 2-3 years I keep getting all kinds of bow hunting videos.

It's particularly amusing when my plan was to watch an old episode of "The Golden Girls."

They REALLY misread my demographic.

[-] nekat_emanresu@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

Conseratives and fascists are the same group, so I'll refer to them as fascists.

You are talking about one of the core criticisms of corporate secret algorithms to determine what to influence you with. Fascism is forced to creep into everyones world view when you use standard social media, and the average person wouldn't have the slightest idea. Certain key things will be more related to fascist content, like philosophy, psychology, guns, comedy. If you think about what fascists enjoy, or what they need to slander then it makes what I said make more sense.

Jordan Peterson does a lot of vids around psych/philosophy to redirect curious people to false answers that are close to true but more agreeable for fascists. An example of a psychological cooption is "mass psychosis" being coopted into "mass formation psychosis" by fascists. Mass psychosis explains too many true things, where mass formation psychosis redirects people towards a more palletable direction for them.

This is why I want to be nowhere near corporate media if possible. If you delete your cookies(or private browse for the same effect) then youtube will promote the most adjacent things to what you watch like old youtube used to do, although it'll still promote fascism when directly adjacent. With cookies though they have an excuse to have questionable content linger statistically too often.

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[-] NoMoreCocaine@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Not to be that guy, but you can say "don't recommend this channel again" to YouTube. I haven't seen Quartering, Asmogold, etc for years now. Unless you search for them.

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[-] MiloSquirrel@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

For me if I ever look up warhammer 40k it immediately starts sending me losers like quartering or other channels like him.

Like, bo youtube, I don't want to hear about how feminism and "wokes" are ruining warhammer. I also don't want to be sent Sargon of Carl videos. Uhg. Lmao

[-] erogenouswarzone@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

If they piss you off, you will stay on their platform longer, and they make more money.

That is the sad truth of EVERY social network.

Lemmy might not be that advanced yet, but as soon as they get big enough to need ads to pay for bandwidth and storage, soon after they will add algorithms that will show you stuff that pisses you off.

One way to combat this is to take a break from the site. Usually after a week, when you come back it will be better for a while.

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this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2023
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