This is a key reason behind my discomfort with social media. The algorithms that seem unresponsive to clear signals of intent was the last straw. Ended up leaving YouTube over the incessant push to new channels and ragebait shit.
Anyway, lemmy might be a cesspit at times, but its a cesspit I can choose/not choose, to engage with, and thats some nice anti-monopolisation of my online experience in the design.
My YouTube feed seems okay, recently they started promoting new crap but pressing “don’t recommend channel” and “not interested” silenced it.
If I watch something from a channel I don’t want to get recommended I remove it from my watch history and I never press “like” on videos.
It’s good to see all the comments with ways to manage your YouTube feed, good to know if I end up in the same situation with a poisoned algorithm.
I like pipepipe and freetube since there isn’t really an opportunity for either to offer a curated algorithm of content it thinks I would be interested in. And I can block channels which had been a game changer. Especially on the tech and game side, since search results tend to be dominated by a few big youtubers on the first pages.
I don’t have an account but my partner does. We normally get videos on the main page from people they’re subscribed to, or videos we already have watched (which is annoying.)
One day, one of the top videos on the main page reccos was what I can only describe as a terminally-autistic person (like we’re both autistic too but) hand-holding a camera to video capture Tamodachi Life on the DS and narrating the experience. It had like 37 views when we clicked on it. We looked at their channel and it was like their 1300th post playing the same game. It was amazing.
Its been two or three years now since i dipped out, the way you describe using the ‘don’t recommend’ and ‘not interested’ options seems to have a clearer result than when i last used them. If they’ve changed that functionality in the meantime i’m glad.
Yeah, some of peoples suggestions here are good. I liked that user who only looks at their subscribed channels tab, if i ever go back maybe i’d try that. Though the only youtuber i miss is adamsomething, one day i might jump onto his patreon.
Yeah I feel like they changed how the algorithm reacts to getting those requests. It used to be constant skirmishes with the suggested videos where I have to say “don’t recommend” until they stick.
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