Very, Very Few People Are Falling Down the YouTube Rabbit Hole | The site’s crackdown on radicalization seems to have worked. But the world will never know what was happening before that::The site’s crackdown on radicalization seems to have worked. But the world will never know what was happening before that.

  • masterofn001@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Recently watched a documentary called ‘the YouTube effect’ by Alex Winter (bill of bill and ted) which goes into how YouTube was essential in the current global state of radicalized individuals.

    In the earlyish days of the internet (late 1990s / early 00s) I fell deep down the rabbit hole of right wing hate and conspiracy theories…

    One subject of the doc explains his descent. It is almost exactly mine. Only these days it is hyper stimulated, laser targeted, data driven, psychological warfare, wrapped in polished, billionaire backed campaigns.

    It comes at you from wherever you are.

    Crypto bros. Health/hydro bros. incel bros. Christian bros. Muslim bros. Rogan bros. Peterson bros. Elon bros. Tech bros. Anon bros. etc.

    By the time a lot of people realize what’s happened, if ever, they’re already in too deep.

    • mdm_@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Crypto bros. Health/hydro bros. incel bros. Christian bros. Muslim bros. Rogan bros. Peterson bros. Elon bros. Tech bros. Anon bros. etc.

      Hmm I’m sensing a theme here…

      • NegativeInf@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I think I fell in the other YouTube rabbit hole? My recs are all progressive podcasters, history video essays, and YouTube creator podcasts that complain about YouTube?

      • nyoooom@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Loneliness, lack of purpose, which then gets fulfilled by a relatively small community driven by defending and idea, ideology and/or an individual.

        • Khotetsu@lib.lgbt
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          1 year ago

          Yup, it’s the same old song of fascists and cultists.

          “Are you lonely, sad, angry, or just generally dissatisfied with your life? Have you tried blaming your problems on a minority with less power in society than yourself? Act now, and I’ll throw in a second minority, free!*”

          *Just pay shipping and handling.

      • NewNewAccount@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Leftists aren’t immune. My YouTube has a lot of Vaush, Hasan, Sam Seder, etc.

        Though I do also get Patrick Bet David and PragerU thrown in too, I think because I can’t help but watch for a window into their line of thinking.

        • Fisk400@feddit.nu
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          1 year ago

          It is not quite the same. It recommends things you watch. If you watch Hasan you tend to get more Hasan stuff but only on rare occasions do you get Vaush stuff.

          Back in the day you could watch one non political thunderfoot about some scam and the recommendations would be a rouges gallery of anti-sjws with no other recommendations.

          Now you can get radicalized because you want to be and it’s a nice saunter down the hill. Then it was a sheer cliff you could accidentally fall into. If you didn’t experience it you can’t really imagine how stupid it was.

      • ST5000@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        There’s a recent documentary movie about that called Bros I suggest you check it out.

    • MacGuffin94@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I like to watch videos of media critiques. Somehow all the ones that I keep getting recommended are anti woke d bags that blame every bad movie choice on the company/producer/director/etc going woke. I’ve pretty much had to stop watching those types of videos and try to rebalance the algorithm by watching literally anything that seems remotely left leaning. It’s been 2 months and it’s barely better.

      • 3laws@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Patrick H. Willems. Thomas Flight. Now You See It. Cinema Therapy. Pop Culture Detective. jstoobs

      • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        There’s one channel I love watching for the behind the scenes news on movie studios, but then it goes anti-woke so hard sometimes that I literally just have to stop the video mid-viewing.

        The anti-woke crowd think the woke crowd are so annoying, but they never themselves stop to think about how the anti-woke croud can be so annoying as well.

      • masterofn001@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        I have resorted to extreme methods of recommendation algorithm avoidance such as, but not limited to:

        Multiple accounts.

        Proxies and anonymous services like startpage.com anonymous view.

        Non YouTube clients like piped or envidious.

        Using multiple browsers instead of a single google spyware app.

        • MacGuffin94@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Yeah I’m just watching less because I don’t want to spend the time doing that. It’s irritating either way but at least this way I can justify since I’m not putting in and time.

    • SubArcticTundra
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      1 year ago

      What do you mean by ‘it coming at you’ and ‘being too deep’?

      • kambusha@feddit.ch
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        1 year ago

        Not OP but I’m guessing the algorithms that recommend videos have gone down one direction, so you’re in an echo chamber where it seems like that is everything there is. You’d never hear a counter-argument; only ever one side of the argument.

      • masterofn001@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Whatever your interest or hobby, there is a psyop devoted to it. Wherever you are, whatever you do, whatever you’re curious about, you will find targeted propaganda.

        Because of the methods used. The conspiracies wrapped in a cozy blanket of semi truth and emotional manipulation make it easy to fall prey to.

        If you’re angry, it will make you angrier. Violent, even. If you’re happy, it can make you hate with the loving joy of false religious zeal. If you are confused and uncertain, it will provide the esoteric truths you seek, with the absolute certainty of a “final solution”

        Etc

        And it’s difficult to unwind.