Ask HN: Do you have some tips to sanitize YouTube's suggestions?

1 points by hamburgererror 20 days ago | 4 comments

I mainly use Youtube to listen to music, I like to dig unknown songs and small artists and discover new gems. I do not use the platform with an account and I keep track of songs by just bookmarking them. I also auto delete all cookies when I close my browser.

Suggestions are the main way I find new stuff but they are literally infested with ragebait politics, pseudo science garbage, and soulless AI mixes... Which is, I guess, what the algorithm thinks an average fresh user would like to see.

Do you have some tips to get better recommandations? I'm also open to using another platform to discover new music, I know there's Soundcloud but I admit I would prefer to stay with a free option. I haven't explored Bandcamp very much.

yepyoukno 20 days ago |

I have two separate accounts which I switch between, they make it easy with the “switch accounts” feature.

In one I watch movies and other pointless timepass, in the other topics of intellectual curiosity.

It is insightful to see how various habits influence the suggestions, and how much of the similar garbage appears.

I also find that closing the browser or app clears the cache deck and repopulates it. When I’m doomscrolling and notice the exact same selection reordered, I close it and reopen and find some modified assortments.

sometimelurker 20 days ago |

I just set my add blocker to stop suggestions.

functionmouse 20 days ago |

if you're logged out of YouTube you get exposed to logged-out-of-youtube-core content. This is the content that is most addictive, brainrotting, and profitable to the billionaires with a stake in the situation. Just how it is.

hamburgererror 20 days ago | |

You're right but I have mixed feeling about their AI with my data.