Why Does YouTube Hate Me? | Hacker News Reader

Why Does YouTube Hate Me?

7 pointsunclebucknasty7 comments

Noticed yesterday on YT apps that my Home page is empty. Instead of recommendations, I now see a modal prompt to turn on my history to re-enable recommendations.

Apparently, this has been rolling out for some time and just got to me.

https://www.bqprime.com/technology/youtube-will-not-recommend-videos-from-today-if-the-watch-history-is-off-bqc

I don't want my history on for a number of reasons, and I have quite a list of curated likes and subscriptions from which recommendations can be (and were previously) drawn. I mean, come on YouTube, you can easily show me recent updates from my subscriptions instead of a blank page, demanding I do something that juices your numbers/dossier.

On top of this, just last month they increased the price of YouTube Premium.

What hell have we accepted, wherein prices for services we consume rise indefinitely, while changes to the service happen consistently and frequently in ways that diminish usability or are designed to benefit the company in customer-hostile ways? How much do I owe you as your customer? Is there a limit?

Sure, we can always cancel, but we're also living in an age where monopolies have (not coincidentally) been normalized. Where else are we going to go?

The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?

Do something more productive than YouTube. Most of the "educational" content is more like Discovery channel on steroids - extremely long, filled with ads, and not particularly information dense. Imagine in that 15 minutes if you read a long-form article or read a book chapter, you would be so much more informed.

Or you spend that hour (or more) a day learning a new skill. You'd become pretty proficient in something new every couple of years at that rate.

Ditch YouTube

I'm going to have another "shit take" and link https://redirect.invidious.io/

Quit youtube within the last month and feel incredible. Recommend at least considering it

The only three comments so far are just don’t use YouTube.

What a shit take you guys.

Yeah, YouTube could do better and do your suggestions but ultimately they are capitalistic company and are going to to squeeze you for as much money as possible. Enshitifcation be damed.

I’ve toyed around with the idea of making a script to download all of my subs and put them on jellyfin but haven’t been annoyed enough yet, but we’re getting close.

It's like suggesting that someone should stop watching TV, is that also a "shit take"? Let's hear your defense of YouTube then

Yeah, because it’s a one dimensional take.

You really think there is zero value in any TV or YouTube content? Planet Earth is worthless?

SmarterEveryDay post YouTube videos about a vast array of science subjects.

Adam Savage Tested posts weekly with shop tips and life advice for makers of all walks, programmers included.

This is just two of the millions of creators.

Let’s hear why you think YouTube is the devil.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com