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YouTube mobile app recommends repulsive videos?

8 points by ClumsyPilot ↗ HN
I am seriously disturbed and just trying to find a venue to discuss.

So I recently got a new phone, logged into YouTube and searched ‘Makita Vacuum Review’.

Out of nowhere, YouTube is recommending repulsive content of either medical procedures or people doing serious damage to their bodies.

Titles are like ‘Removing something in a girls ear, IT’s stuck’ ‘Dr PimplePopper Reacts’, some titles are Portuguese and Arabic. Some involves children.

I know filters / moderation aren’t perfect and sometimes porn gets though the filters, but this is different. These are popular videos with millions of views.

I have been on 4chan before, and this is probably on that level. My sleep is ruined.

Searching Reddit, there seem to be some reports of this happening.

Okay, I reported all the videos, searched the same thing again, more gross videos come up. The rabbit hole runs deep. I am not keen to explore it.

This does not happen if I search something mainstream, like Rick and Morty. I haven’t not found another search term that produces this kind of results.

Now I am wondering is it my account that’s cursed, or this specific search causes some glitch in the recommendation engine?

How often does this happen when kids watch YouTube as well.

Has anyone seen this, is it a known phenomena?

11 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 33.5 ms ] thread
lee-rhapsody
That is very strange. Commenting to follow this thread later should anyone else comment. For what it's worth, I did search the same thing on YT and nothing out of the ordinary came up.
beanjuiceII
I've been getting video adverts in my feed of under age asian women looking for "dates"..and I have no idea i don't watch porn i don't talk about this type of stuff and it just started showing up more and more. I've even been reporting it
VFIT7CTO77TOC
Social media algorithms are designed to capture your attention. It turns out humans can't help but click on and watch softcore porn of teenage girls dancing, thumbnails with cartoonishly expressive faces, and videos with jump cuts every 2 seconds. The companies behind them say they are just giving people what they want. In my opinion they are exploiting the subconscious human brain, much like how food brands make their junk foods hyper palatable by loading them with sugar and oil.
nicbou
Look at your watch history. Perhaps your account is still in use on a device elsewhere, or someone has access to it.
dgunay
Earwax removal and "popping" videos are quite popular. There is an entire subreddit on it. It's unfortunate that you had to see it without explicitly seeking it out, but yes it is "a known phenomena".
mango7283
I expected much worse from the title, when I saw dr pimple popper was the example I had to chuckle.
thiago_fm
Yes, everybody I know that uses Youtube often enough end up having those disturbing videos on their timeline.
eimrine
Seems like a normal work of Youtube's algo. If you want to grok the algo - do not click on bad videos and try to "watch" more interesting videos probably without looking at the screen or listening. Your job is to impress the algo and if you please it enough it will stop giving you that kind of video which are famous of having an arrow and some faces with exaggerated emotions.
nicbou
This just happened to us today on a guest account on a television. We were watching bening cooking and food videos all day, and suddenly we got a stream of pimple popping videos in the "recommended for you" items.
raxxorraxor
> I am not keen to explore it.

Yet you did and now Youtube considers you interested in these videos.

People have entirely different perspective on what they consider gross. To pick the common ground is no solution, although in these cases being grossed out is problably the reason for the videos in the first place.

But Youtube isn't TV, you have to actively curate your consumption. For kids I would recommend to restrict access until they are older.

I think being grossed out is also not a reason to report content.