Has YouTube experienced enshittification?
this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2024
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Enshittification
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What is enshittification?
The phenomenon of online platforms gradually degrading the quality of their services, often by promoting advertisements and sponsored content, in order to increase profits. (Cory Doctorow, 2022, extracted from Wikitionary) source
The lifecycle of Big Internet
We discuss how predatory big tech platforms live and die by luring people in and then decaying for profit.
Embrace, extend and extinguish
We also discuss how naturally open technologies like the Fediverse can be susceptible to corporate takeovers, rugpulls and subsequent enshittification.
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What would removing the dates accomplish except making things more confusing and harder to find? What advantage to YouTube is there?
They one one goal: keep you engaged in the app.
Nothing else matters.
In their eyes, further reoving the "choice" of what to watch and shifting more of it to the algorithm optimizes that. And visible view counts/dates is a factor, as you may skip a video the algorithm thinks would keep you engaged.
For sure this has to be it. Less distractions, less info, less choice, more control for them
It is enshittification. IDK why other comments are mad about calling that out but look up the term if unfamiliar. Corey Doctorow laid out a thesis a few years ago and , the trend has continued. It seems unabated 😡😰
I just question if steering users toward old and outdated videos really keeps them engaged.
It probably does in the short term (aka next quarter or two), which is all they care about. It takes awhile to hemorrhage users when one is so entrenched.
YouTube's goal, as was Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and TikTok and everyone else, is to get you to consume what they want you to consume, rather than what you choose to consume.
My guess is that it makes it easier to suggest you older content that wouldn't be interesting when you can see at a glance how outdated it is.
Have to wonder if advertisers want to advertise on older videos though.
Would it really matter if they pay per view?
I don't understand why the hell I would want to watch an old ass YouTube video unless I sought it out.
That's pretty much my point. You won't know unless you click