YouTube is so bad. The click driven internet needs to die. There should just be a publicly funded video host with a basic web functionality and an API so third party devs can use it.
Privacy nightmares aside.. So many social media platforms and similar sites have gone way beyond their original scope.
Instagram is the biggest tragedy for me personally because I was a very early user of it. It used to be a fairly niche iPhone app where people shared their own amateur photography and art. It was interesting and fun. Ever since Facebook bought it, it's become a cesspit of ads, politics, thirst traps, spam, bait posts, shitty memes, narcissism, and general low quality content. It also has stupid stories and reels and has just become overcomplicated, trying to cover so many bases.
I remember that original instagram as well. I installed it that time because I loved the filters, which were something new at the time. Never used it for personal use since then.
Yup, there have been countless attempts to paywall creator content but they always flop. The closest we have right now is offering video content through Patreon subscriptions, but creators know they can’t put their main content there because it would destroy their platform
I never understood why „video-podcasts“ never cought on. Everybody would host their own videos or provides peer-to-peer links and it can be presented basically like a YouTube feed in compatible apps.
As a cherry on top, a compatible app could also support YouTube and download videos from there liked piped or invidious.
I get that lots of people are here because they're against modern trends in Internet applications. But can we stop with the constant complaints of the exact same issues every single day? It's frustrating. You're preaching to the choir and saying nothing original.
Most of us are just to tired at the end of the day to do anything. Paying bills, barely affording rent or food, and being stuck in a shit job. Not to mention a commute that sucks 2 hours out of our lives everyday.
The irony is thatthe YouTube algorithm thinks that's what they want to see based on their viewing history...
My feed is usually pretty rad. I love that they're adding more small channels to mix, I found a great one the other day that way (Ideal Idea). The only thing I really hate and can't get rid of is Shorts
If you don't like a suggestion, click the dots and pick Not Interested or Don't Recommend This Channel. It's easy.
The YouTube algorithm is garbage. More than once it's just completely removed channels I watch pretty much daily from my suggestions. The not interested filter is woefully inadequate as they have no idea what the actual reason for disinterest was. I still get 100 flavors of lofi videos in my suggestions despite flagging every single one. YouTube's interpretation of that? Remove all other forms of music.
This is why I feel nothing ever changes in north america, people become complacent in everything thats around them and can be improved upon.
If only people would get angry and organize, but I get it we are all tired working 9-5 everyday with long commutes and paying to much for everything. At the end of the day we just want to sit down and switch off.
In other countries, like France, a slight raising of retirement age or increase in tuition causes multitudes to rage in the streets. In the US far greater injustices are met with a shrug.
YouTube has gone drastically downhill in the past year. It had been going downhill for a while, but it is basically an ad platform with terrible content now.
I recently discovered some YouTube front-end apps that provide a better interface than the one in the native app. It was thanks to this comment made on another post about YouTube and ad-blockers:
I haven't seen this in any of the lists, but would it be possible to create a YouTube premium app without all the anti-consumer design. Like a fork of the official app where I'd be able to login, but not have all the bloat and just have search, subscriptions and playlists.
Main downside for me is that playlists fall out of sync with YouTube, so i can't really use it alongside Revanced or YouTube in the browser. But i agree, it's a good app, particularly if one can use it exclusively.