I recently wrote a browser extension for myself that allows me to filter out videos from the YouTube search results that come from Verified channels. The reason I did this is that some search terms get completely overwhelmed by mainstream media channels, and they happen to all have the Verified checkmark.

Turns out there's very little of the "you" in YouTube anymore. I remember a day when you could type in any given search term and there would be videos from everyday people arguing for one thing or another, or showing you how to do a thing without totally shilling out for dinner kits or mattresses. I was surprised to find that even the least controversial topics yield very little. When it comes to YouTube, it seems very few everyday people just vlog or express themselves anymore. Everything has to be a podcast, everything has to be sponsored, everything needs graphics and studio lighting, everything has to not piss off the wrong group, everything has to constantly retread safe topics, and so on.

What a boring place YouTube became. The only reason I still use it is because NewPipe still works and TikTok just seems like a den of mental illness.

Also, I do find my extension useful. If I'm searching for videos on a topic involving science or technology, I really don't need a bunch of mainstream popsci bullshit. Unfortunately, it only works for Firefox.

Funny because it's been a few months that the algorithm has been getting worse at giving personal suggestions. I used to have a lot of videos I enjoyed on my feed (maybe 75% of the time I didn't have to scroll to find something I'd be willing to watch) and now I often end up scrolling a lot to find a suitable suggestion. And when I watch one all I get as a suggestion is all of the things I didn't want before + another video from the same channel of the video I just watched.

I don't know if people experience the same but I feel like I'm just being fed whatever is trending now instead of things I actually want to watch.

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