n=1, but I've watch a fair bit of Youtube shorts and this has never happened. The algorithm rewards what you watch, and someone addicted to politics and the culture of outrage around it, will get what they ask for.

It usually starts off with just content you're overtly interested in. Then, they'll sprinkle in random clips every so many scrolls to guard against overfitting the model and getting stale for the user. Some of those random clips are Outrage Porn designed to get a reaction out of you...

You scroll past, then scroll back because "wtf did I just see?" - and now you're in. The frequency starts to increase and pretty soon you're shouting at clouds feeling like you're the only one that realizes how crazy everything is...

It's hard to keep your feed "clean" and dialed into just things that bring you intellectual stimulation or enjoyment. It's not impossible, but it's quit difficult. You constantly have to realign your algorithm lest it goes off into the weeds.

> It's hard to keep your feed "clean" and dialed into just things that bring you intellectual stimulation or enjoyment.

The confusion happens because this can be very easy. All it takes is rarely watching youtube.

If you only watch a random video here and there, Google won't push all the bullshit at all. So the people watching many videos, getting the shitty recommendations, and complaining that the internet is crazy end-up sounding insane to everybody else.

I was watching exercises for shoulder tendonitis and it escalated to surgeries of shoulder replacement - it seems to be good at upping the intensity (for lack of a better word) of whatever you're watching regardless of the subject.

The algo will only push outrage on you if you secretly like it enough to spend hours watching that shit.

I have consumed more than my fair share of content on Youtube, Instagram, Facebook videos, and TikTok. My timeline is all engineering, spaceships, jumping puppies, and comedians (and not the negative kind).

It's an algorithm, it wants you to watch more and click on all the ads. It doesn't care if the world burns, but it also isn't going to push you that way.

My statement will only be "objectively false" if the algorithm is somehow programmed for political extremism. In reality, each of us is in the driver's seat.

People have been spouting crap since time immemorial - doesn't mean you have to watch it.

I would suggest a heavy and sustained dose of puppy videos.

How do you use these short video services? Are you searching for content then watching, or just "doom scrolling" while on the toilet?

Searching then watching is effectively realigning the feed to your latest and most engaged preferences.

Doom scrolling will get worse and worse as time goes on - it appears entirely unavoidable. They pick up on "positive" interaction signals such as slowing down while scrolling past a video, scrolling back to a video, letting it play more than once, even downvoting can be a sign of engagement and a catalyst for more of the same...

You are right - the algorithm doesn't care if the world burns... it just wants to maximize engagement. That, for most of the human population, means stuff that gets immediate reactions. Unfortunately that often means outrageous material.

This actually reads like a much better user experience than what I'm having: for me, the start page of YouTube, as well as half its search results, are just filled with nonsense. Not even slightly relevant, e.g. when looking for a gameplay video the other day, I got a Eurovision clip at the top of the search. (As much as I'd love to play a videogame where I get to shoot these monsters for ruining the pop music...)