Comment by nox101 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by nox101 | Hacker News Reader

I don't feel like this problem is limited to kids. Youtube is a cesspool of people trying to find anything that will make them money and increase their subscribers. 80-90% of the stuff youtube recommends to me is just random people posting whatever they think will get them clicks. I'm into tech and 4 of 5 tech recommendations are just some random no one repeating the latest tech news with some sensational spin and click-bait title.

And, that's not even going into the non-tech world where it's 10x worse. Years ago that guy got in trouble for posting a dead body from a forest in Japan but just looking at what's recommended it's clear 90% for the content is just people trying to find some random non-topic and hyping it up.

Checking top recommendations right now

"Should I Buy This Chinook Helicopter? Craziest Barn Find Ever!"

"I Played Fortnite on World’s SMALLEST Keyboards"

"10 NEW Costco Deals You NEED To Buy in September 2024"

"I Bought VINTAGE vs NEW Beauty Products"

"My Daughter Survives WORLD'S TINIEST HOUSE"

I supposed the world was always this way given that there was a market for "World Weekly News" but "at scale" with millions more schlock producers it's horrifiying.

> I don't feel like this problem is limited to kids.

It’s not, but the point is that they are typically the most vulnerable group of people. What the author wrote doesn’t imply that the problem is limited to kids.

The dead body guy is Logan Paul, he is doing a collab with MrBeast, it’s in the article.

I find it hilarious that repeat scammers like Logan Paul have a growing audience.

Same with the shit Mr Beast pulls. Viewers just don't care, the dumber and more extreme the content is, the bigger the audience ultimately becomes.

It was the same with Linus Tech Tips before, completely bogus and amature opinions dressed up by tech bros with lots of noise and people actually watch it. While he lost some of his audience last year on his narcissistic rant, his views seem to have mostly recovered by now. Truly mind blowing.

What about LTT is objectionable?

They're all paid advertisements, paid for by the producer of the gadget they're presenting.

The ads are generally made by people that have about 30 minutes to form their opinion on the product, and have very little industry experience. (And if they had, they'd quickly leave considering how massively underpaid the staff reportedly is)

But don't take my word, there was a bit of coverage last year after Linus previously mentioned narcissistic rant on the WAN show, where he said only his team is producing benchmarks without reusing previous runs. Which is false, and shows that he's probably the only channel that entertains the idea of doing that for more profit (but the last post is speculation by me)

> "World Weekly News"

At least it was relegated to the magazine stands and check out line at the grocery market. You had to physically travel to see yet alone obtain a copy. Now it's in your pocket 24/7. Bat boy would be displeased.

It's a bummer that NetworkChuck makes use of very similarly-styled titles [0], so it feels like I have to take an extra step when recommending his content to friends/coworkers, but I think he's one of a select few creators who is still worth watching even if it's just for some surface-level introductions to new topics or fun simple projects.

[0] e.g. "you STILL need a website RIGHT NOW!! (yes, even in 2024)"

Someone needs to fork freetube and add an llm to dehype the videos

edit: just found DeArrow kinda does this - crowdsources titles

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