Online monoculture died when the normies finally got online and brought real life cliques to the internet.
this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2025
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I followed the link of a video here on Lemmy just a few minutes ago and it opened in the browser.
Nothing shocking up to this point.
Then I get a prompt from the video saying "Ready to buy products advertised in the video? Log into the official app in order to."
Direct purchase through the YT app is a novelty for me.
Newpipe all the way.
I recommend Tubular. Newpipe with Sponsorblock. Didn't realise how much of a game changer that would be until I tried it.
Just need to find a way to stop Eternity from opening Youtube links in the browser. Sure you can share it with the app but it would be a lot more convenient.
Gizmodo still exists 😲
Any iOS alternatives? The ad experience is not great.
I don't use iOS any more, but I found that a combination of Safari + adblocker + Vinegar was the golden setup. No ads, and you get to use the default iOS video player.
I got rid of YT and replaced it with PeerTube and Nebula. Am I a bit less entertained? Sure. Am I a lot less angry? Yup.
I’m also learning a lot more because I was forced to find new content and new creators which was actually really fun.
Nebula has certainly improved but I still think they need to put more effort into getting new creators that aren't political or news. I just did a skim through their uploads lists for various topics and news and/or political (or political ish) content is still the most active. Topics like technology and gaming see far less uploads.
There isn’t a ton of content, but Jetlag SLAPS
Genuinly asking this question. Aren't the ones on nebula the ones that make you mad? Maybe that's not the best way to put it but the ones like philosophy tube are the ones that got me started down my political path and they are still super political.
Fair question, I don’t really watch that stuff. I’ve been watching channels like king k and Liam triforce etc. I also dabble in channels like Not Just Bikes. So nothing super political. I also follow a channel that dives into Math topics, etc.
NJB is the shit.
I will never, never visit Fake London.
Haha fake London looks terrible!
I think Jacob Geller and wendigoon are on nebula and they don't make political content. I'm sure there are others
Patrick H Willems, particularly his 'Star Wars Christmas Special', is the reason I signed up to Nebula. He's decidedly non-political.
You're not wrong honestly. I just did a scroll through of the more recent channels and they've picked up a ton of people that aren't really primarily politics.
Why did YT make you angry? I haven’t experienced it yet. I block content I’m not interested in and it goes away.
I block content I’m not interested in and it goes away.
I agree with this idea, but unfortunately YT and other engagement social media sites don't want that to happen. For me, I'm almost never shown videos I hate, but when I say "not interested/don't show me this channel" it USUALLY works. Not at the time though. I've definitely gotten channels recommended to me that I already said I don't want to see.
This is especially true for my mom, who is frequently getting upset by the fact that YT keeps showing her Fox News and Asmongold clips in her recommendations. I think changing the VPN to Canada helped to reduce the Fox News recommendations, but the Asmongold clips can't be escaped.
That’s so interesting re your mother. I wonder if her beliefs closely align to fox and asmongold (never heard of that one), but are different enough for her to not be interested in that content. Ie: ven diagram between the belief systems, except the differences are big enough for her to not to like fox content but for the algorithm the commonalities are good enough to keep suggesting the content.
No, she absolutely hates right-wing content and is definitely left. Asmongold is a grifter piece of shit human being who attracts alt-right viewers. It's not about her not being interested, she quite literally gets upset at the awful ideas and hate that those channels spread and doesn't want to see them. She never watches their videos on purpose, she's only ever clicked on them by accident, she always either clicks away immediately or dislikes the video, and never comments on them. She has repeatedly tried to block those channels. YT continues to show them.
YT, really Google, is just not a company I want to support. YT as a platform is not something I want to support by using. Also, data reasons.
taking a guess but I already saw some other comments on another thread mention this: The chart boys in any corps will see Engagement == Profit. Thus they will tune their recommendations solely for that. And if you aren't bothered about properly policing your video upload platform the end result is highly divisive content thats "not boring".
Divisive content makes people angry so they engage in comments.
i used to be on reddit. And I used to get into "debates" that devolved into a slap fight and make me angry about the people who intentionally or unintentionally riled me up with outrageous (real or my own perception) opinions.
While lemmy also has slap fights, I feel like the lack of an "algorithm" tuned for engagement prevents continuous fueling of the fire, metaphorically speaking.
There's a lot to be said for stepping back from online debates and asking whether your voice is actually valuable, or whether you're just yelling into the void and getting yourself all pissy.
For me, I try to take the view that there's already enough negativity, so I try to be as positive as I can in my online interactions. If someone gets needlessly arsey with me, I'll try to sympathise with them. If they don't react well to that, I'll leave the thread. I'm not changing anyone's mind, not even yours.
sounds like you made some big progress in life
It became downright personal for me. Its about accessibility.
My brain works a certain non typical way which is challenging to live with at best.
Sudden advertisements hits me like a physical punch in my face.
The ui focus on everything new rather then a nice subscription view with filters meant i who does not watch daily would frequently miss new uploads from the channels i do like.
I felt like i was in a toxic relationship being pushed to watch on their terms while openly hating that i protect myself from ad-sault by using blockers.
I realize i did not need things to be this way and am smart enough to build and alternative.
Now i have a yt-dlp script downloaded the latest uploads from chosen channels straight to jellyfin and also a selfhosted invidious with custom tweaks for everything i dont want to spend storage space on.
Basicly i take 100% of what i liked and never have to visit the website directly again.
They are waging war on invidious, it breaks on occasion. Yt-dlp though, stable as a rock.
I do the same with yt-dlp, though mine is still a little more manual. I have my subscriptions in FreeTube, which I use to select what I want to watch. Copy the link, run my script, then trundle to the lounge where I can watch them on my big TV.
There's a mindfulness to that process that's helpful to me. A conscious decision, as opposed to mindlessly absorbing content.
I hear you. I use an adblocker and don’t see ads at all. I cannot imagine using the internet without it. I also only use the home link on yt and freely use the not interested feature.
What is Nebula? Is it literally just a YouTube alternative, or is there more to it? I did some googling and couldn't find much. But they do seem to have a few creators I like.
its a paid platform where engagement (i.e bickering in the comments section) is near absent. And the content is allowed to address themes that make main stream media blush.
Youtube alternative with focus on educational creators. It doesn't have an engagement algorithm and it claims to compensate creators better.
any peertube creators you can recommend that make long form highly edited content?
I mostly watch folks like the Linux Experiment and Veronica Explains and Oh the Urbanity. I’ve had more luck on Nebula but I am trying to sort of “put up or shut up” by interacting with the platforms that I want to succeed. Ya know? So I just browse peer tube a lot and give random videos a shot.
I've been using YouTube as my primary source of entertainment since 2009. I don't think I've looked at the trending page even once.
Has the internet ever been a 'monoculture'?
The trending page of YT is like the r/all of Reddit. If I want to see some stuff I couldn't care less about, that's where I'll find it. I have no idea who actually uses that, but I've never found anything of value there.
At least Reddit's front page features some news sometimes while YT front page caters to 3-6 yr olds who are YT's main demographic. It's all AI junk clickbait brainrot and shorts content.
I could never click on any YT's front page links. It's not appealing to me not even in my drunkiest state
The only view of reddit I have is top/hour.
The YT trending was disgusting boring farmed content. It was like going to r/all two days ago.
Exactly. I have my own interests and I just stick to that. Arts and crafts and dog grooming videos haven’t made me angry.
keep showing viewers the videos that we think they’ll love
We'll keep profiling you and target you with videos that drive engagement, so largely things that inspire rage or conflict between you and others. Extra points if we drive your political and social views further to the right.
Youtube has just one priority, it wants you to watch as much monetised content as possible. If you watch and engage with those types of videos, it'll suggest them to you.
I don't, and I never see them recommended either - here's my youtube homepage right now.
DIY, electronics, cooking, gaming, science, with some weeb stuff sprinkled in - exactly what I'd expect.
I've noticed that with Facebook. Facebook will push conflict to my feed excessively hard, to the point that spending not even 30 seconds there will start making me angry. I refuse to use Facebook at all anymore.
Delete it. Do it.
Its nuts to me that we figured out their strategy like 10 years ago and people just chose to ignore that information and kept using all these platforms anyway.
10 years ago? saw that shit begin when the news feed was first plagued by friends liking posts in a way that auto shared it with everyone. that was long before 2015.
My father was addicted to the “righteous” rage. Though he was mostly just addicted to being angry. Hated commercials but intentionally watched live tv to curse at the “motherfuckers stealing my time.” I’d say “rest in peace” but I think that might be antithetical to his wishes.
that is youtubes goal, it brings traffic to the site. bringing in "anti-woke videos" along with the hatewatchers,
I think they are driving the right further to the right and the left further to the left.
”lets just see what happens"
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They've removed down notes, date posted in placeholders, and the ability to properly alter monetization the way you want to...seems like a competitive product could pop in at any time. Sadly, the only competition would have to come from another equally shitty company with a massive infrastructure footprint.
Andy Warhol was so close, in the future everyone won’t be famous for 15 minutes. Instead everyone will be famous to 15 people.
Part of me expected that today is the day the subscribe button went away.
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