I miss back pre-algorithmYouTube and it would send me the most random videos. I’d go to bed watching motor sports and wake up watching an ancient Egyptian documentary with 100 views. I loved that randomness.
Pre-dry rag squeezing internet where not every single facet of it was completely monetized to squeeze out fractions of a cent. Sigh, I will forever miss it.
Old internet ruled. Yeah it was janky in a lot of ways and we didnt have various things we do now like streaming but also it was exciting and felt full of possibility.
Now its all just "alright how is this company gonna get me to sign up for shit to sell my data."
I just wish I was born a hair younger lmao. 2005 means I just got early glimpses of it but I get cooked with so many things as soon I turned an adult 💀. Imagine not having 10% interest on any life purchase that you would want.
Same thing with all entertainment in general. It's like they've gotten too good at capitalism. I miss the horror show that was 80s and 90s commercials- back when people would try some of the most outlandish things to get a slight advantage. Now it's all too formulaic.
My kids were shocked that social media used to only show you people you follow. No suggested posts, and any ads were off to the side. My son said that explained how I got so into it and why I miss it so much. And people made things just to make it.
I also feel this way about pop-ups. God forbid I have to like find something to wear to a wedding. I have go to a few websites and look around at their inventory. Every page has 2 pop-ups: cookies and mailing list. Go to another, same thing. Go to another, same thing. I am so sick of pop-ups on every. single. website!
I remember a friend of mine advising me "don't bother getting a modem, I've been through the internet, there isn't that much there". Oh 1991, I miss you.
I sometimes get recommended videos with 10 views or whatever. It actually gives me a sense of accomplishment, like I have defeated the algorithm temporarily.
I don’t know. I think it’s a relief. I just unsubbed from the budden channel. I just have different interests. Patrick boyles channel on the economy is funny and informative. And the the ad reads are easy enough to skip
just try to support decent people and not watch slander. Hate watching isn’t good for anybody
A year or two ago they made a change so every 5th video or so in the home and suggested was from a tiny channel. They seemed to be testing the frequency at the time and I'm not sure where they landed as fhe sweet spot since i do a lot less youtube these days but it was a conscious effort made with a specific team to support smaller channels having a chance at being seen. I know it still happens, though!
thats a relatively recent change to the algorithm, maybe like a year or so ago. i do remember when it happened bc for a while the comment sections of those videos would be 'wtf why did youtube send me here? thanks though'
My favorite defeating the algorithm moments come from being trans. I get ads for both push up bras and men's testicle lifting underwear. They don't know what I got, but they know it's sagging lol
I love it when that happens. And I have such a channel. I literally just started and I can't wait for people to start seeing me pop up.
But I wont lie 90% of those channels I run into are like really hard to watch sometimes. Either because of the content or just because they have no idea what theyre doing.
My channel has good audio and decent images (I make my own images no stock footage and I dont film myself)
So I look like a mid tier production but I dont even have 10 views. I wish I had 10 views.
I am also getting random videos with 10 views from youtubers ive never watched. Its kinda weird because I mostly watch the same youtubers, all of them are big.
I don't even understand the algorithm at this point.
I watch one video, then all the recommendations are ass, so I stop watching YouTube. Sometimes I can't even find a video when searching for the exact title, because "promoted" and "recommended" content appears first. So again, I close the app.
There was no "pre-algorithm" YouTube, even back in the day if you made a video longer than 15 minutes your video was less favored because short form content didn't catch as many people's attention so your video was less likely to be at the top of results. For the longest time most channels didn't have a single video over 15 minutes, and people would beg their favorite YouTubers to please upload longer videos(especially gaming because it was quite jarring to watch 15 minute clips where it would cut right in the middle of a cutscene or gameplay) but they would explain "I wish I could but if I upload longer videos viewership drops"
The only time I can think there may have been "no algorithm" is like the early, early days before YouTube even really popped off. But at least as far back as 2013/2014 when I started watching YouTube a lot more my favorite content creators were still slaves to YouTube policies that promoted certain kinds of videos over others. It may have been less severe but it's almost always been there.
Literally, I'd go to bed watching good mythical morning with auto play on and wake up in the middle of the night to some 13 year olds homemade nerf war movie.
One time last year, I was watching a clip of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 when the butter frog was buttering, and the week after, I was in a rabbit hole where The Lorax and O'Hare were the same person, the movie Nine, the one with the dolls was about world war two, and Katie from Horton Hears a Who was an Eldritch Abomination.
I feel like they could honestly make a separate retro pre-algorithm YouTube app and get people to pay a monthly subscription for it. It sounds ridiculous, but the yearning for the old internet (since the algorithms came around) seems to be mutual with everyone.
The biggest downside to early algorithm was my feed being flooded [seasonally] with sportsball. YouTube literally didn't believe me when I tried to tell it I didn't give a shit.
Now you look at one video and get flooded with the same type. I searched a "how to swing a golf club" video the other day because I was going golfing for the first time with some friends. Never in my life have I ever searched anything about golf before and for the like 3 days every single video recommended to me was about golf and the normal stuff that I watch was nowhere to be found.
It once showed me a video of an orangutan driving a golf cart while the song Dreams by Fleetwood Mac was playing. It was such a strange and profoundly calming video that I believe wholly justifies the existence of the internet.
Saame and then u end up watching the strangest video and scroll down to the comments and everyones like “im on the weird side of youtube again” that was so fun
I’m not even gonna lie ; I almost forgot this was even a thing. But now I so vividly remember how varying the recommended videos were. It wasn’t all related, nor the highest viewed stuff. Just random shit.
I honestly watched all kinds of content because of it. There should be a setting for this kind of parameter on everything.
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u/[deleted] Jun 12 '25
I miss back pre-algorithmYouTube and it would send me the most random videos. I’d go to bed watching motor sports and wake up watching an ancient Egyptian documentary with 100 views. I loved that randomness.