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Comment by thinkingtoilet | Hacker News Reader

Funny, I have the opposite experience. I used to get relevant videos to what I was watching. If I'm watching a Phish video, it would recommend other Phish videos. These days, if I'm watching a Phish video I will literally, as in literally literally, get a Candace Owens video recommendation. I have literally never clicked on one of her videos ever. I don't watch political content on youtube at all, and if I did I am very left leaning. I can't fathom what has made the algorithm so terrible that if you're watching 90s Phish videos it recommends right-wing talking heads.

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I truly miss the way the next video used to be picked. I don't get political videos but I will be watching The Band live concerts and after the second video I will get something like a singing video with The Wiggles (I have a child). It makes absolutely no sense to me.

It's so weird and obvious that shenanigans are going on in the recommendation algorithm. I'll watch a Video Game Streamer, and in the sidebar, the top ten recommended related videos are:

- Same streamer, different video

- Different streamer

- Far right pundit blasts immigration

- Video game streamer

- Video game review

- Same streamer, similar content

- Ben Shapiro OWNS Liberals with FACTS

- Video game streamer

I've never watched one of these blowhards in my life, but man, YouTube thinks I'd love it. Because I watch video games? Is this the gamer-to-alt-right pipeline I keep reading about?

There is massive overlap between those who watch video game streamers and those who watch the right wing rage content. Youtube is recommending you the videos those other people who watch video game streams watched next.

Aren't a lot of video game streamers basically alt-right rage streamers now too?

There are a lot of video game players who are tooting the "DEI is ruining games" horn, with streamers amplifying this message. You could agree with that thesis without being conservative but even researching it will pull your YouTube recommendations in that direction; it seems to align well with conservative values.

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