this post was submitted on 05 May 2026
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Not The Onion

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[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 58 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (5 children)

It’s not just Fox. I stumbled into a “default” YouTube algorithm today, and was bombarded with all sorts of, for lack of a better word, podcast bros. Mostly conservative ragebait, though it sampled trash from the whole political spectrum.

Anyway, I just remember glimpses of videos on “what you weren’t taught about Native Americans,” cleanly presented economics, celebrity podcast talks and such basically being “Hey kids! Let’s gently introduce you to White Replacement Theory.” But it’s never explicit; it’s reasonable sounding, professionally presented content building it up by proxy.

…It’s all a machine. In a different life, I could see myself falling into those traps.

[–] uberdroog@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago (3 children)

It has to be on purpose. I have to clear out history and watch to try and normalize. I think Shane Gillis is a gateway

[–] ZebulonP@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago

Not necessary true. I have my watch history off, been off for years. A couple days ago they took away recommended videos from its home page. I toggle watch history to get recommended back, and I got the same thing. Tons of chud content.

[–] Yondoza@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I really don't think it's "on purpose" trying to push a narrative. I think it's "on purpose" the algorithm sees that displaying videos #9342 and #667 to new audiences tends to result in the new viewer watching more videos over time.

It's incidental that those videos are bad for society. If human behavior taught the algorithm high quality educational videos keeps audiences engaged longer this would be a non-issue.

[–] greenbit@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Deciding to upkeep an algorithm knowing it does that is purposeful tho? The purpose of the system is what it does

[–] Yondoza@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

The purpose of a system is the desired outcome. Other results are byproducts. The designed purpose is user engagement. The byproduct is the harm to society.

The purpose of a sewer system is to remove waste water from homes. The byproduct can be the smell coming from storm drains. You wouldn't say the purpose of a sewer system is to make storm drains smell.

[–] notwhoyouthink@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 week ago

It’s rage-gagement, pure and simple. Outrage driven engagement makes the most profit; it’s similar to the pattern of online reviews: people are way more likely to leave a bad review than a good one and the same goes for nearly every interaction one can have on YouTube.

[–] manxu@piefed.social 11 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Ew... I remember this one time I stayed at an AirBnB and forgot to log off YouTube on the TV. OMG the stuff that was in my feed for months!

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Don’t use the feed, then!

I’ve deleted official YT apps from my stuff. It’s just too manipulative. Using Unwatched to just queue up stuff on occasion is so much more peaceful.

[–] ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Not that it helps now, but you can remove videos from your history so it doesn't influence the type of videos it's serving up.

Also, you can force log out of devices remotely

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

That’s just fighting a rigged game, though.

Best to search for what you want, independently and deliberately, instead of being served.

[–] TheRealKuni@piefed.social 1 points 1 week ago

This is why I now bring an Apple TV on trips where I’m going to want to watch anything. Just plug that into the host/hotel TV, connect to the WiFi, and go.

[–] ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip 8 points 1 week ago

I peeked at unlogged in YouTube the other day, and it is horrifying.

[–] Know_not_Scotty_does@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (2 children)

You also get weird stuff like this, "Documentary" on Biblical Giants we share a world with the people, the viewers, not giants.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

And the comments… I can’t tell which are bots.

[–] BehindetheClouds@reddthat.com 1 points 1 week ago

To be fair, at least that's interesting in a bullshit mythology fiction way.

With videos like that though: I am more annoyed with the constant AI read scripts. If somebody can't be bothered to read a script, I can't be bothered to watch.

[–] als@lemmy.blahaj.zone 30 points 1 week ago (1 children)

In other news, eating shit will make you ill

[–] inari@piefed.zip 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Neutralize the liberal threat with some horse dewormer and a side bleach.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Holy 30 year old "news", Batman!

[–] Aatube@piefed.social 3 points 1 week ago

it's so intuitive that it frankly isn't even oniony

[–] p03locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 1 week ago

This is just a reverse heat map:

XKCD: Heatmap

[–] BucketBong@p.hobo.social 9 points 1 week ago

I have depleted my stockpile of shock.

[–] fullsquare@awful.systems 8 points 1 week ago

breaking news: fork found in kitchen

[–] SnarkoPolo@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago
[–] hakase@lemmy.zip 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This is not nottheonion. See the pinned post at the top of the community for why.

[–] 4am@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 week ago

…would make people who see the headline think, “That has got to be a story from The Onion, America’s Finest News Source.”

Oh, I see.

[–] theuniqueone@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago

I mean completely expected given the time FOX spends spreading it.

[–] green_red_black@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 week ago

More "water is wet" rather than an Onion piece IRL

[–] uberdroog@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I could have just told you this. Didn't need a study, it's pretty fucking obvious. And then they don't believe in science so who is this for?

[–] nednobbins@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I hear you but the hallmark of science is that we don't stop when things are pretty fucking obvious. We check anyway and document it.

[–] XTL@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Yes. Granbo's Holy Hotrod said so has zero weight but a published study might have some.

[–] OccamsRazer@lemmy.world -1 points 1 week ago

This is true of any news source that consistently hits certain narratives. Regular viewers will inevitably begin thinking those narratives are a bigger issue than they thought previously. How many foreigners are afraid to visit the United states because they fear getting shot or abducted by ICE, despite extremely low risk of either happening? It's because of where they get their news. The only way to mitigate this is to get news from diverse sources and to talk with lots of different people.