This is going to be a quick diary because I just don’t have time to really get into it. I have been slowly pulling away from social media recently. Deleted Facebook the other day. Far fewer days and interactions on Twitter but I have tons of time on my hands. Sometimes Netflix gets old and you get a bit information starved. Youtube has always been fascinating to me. The few subscriptions I have alert me to some very interesting new videos about all kinds of topics. Then of course those videos lead you to others and by the end of your session you’ve gone off in completely different directions. You can get such insights into so many topics and be tremendously entertained.
However, in the past month or so, the pop up ads (because spending money on a paid account seems a bit absurd) have been almost all hard core right wing propaganda, attacks on the press, praise of Trump’s leadership, complete distortions of the truth. I expect those kinds of things to show up now and then but it’s suddenly this constant barrage. It doesn’t matter what topic I’m watching. These ads are suddenly in your face and you get enough taste of them before the Skip button shows up to trigger real rage. I get that Youtube exists on advertising dollars and I couldn’t care less if some car ad or household cleaning product shows up now and then but this feels like something a bit sinister. Youtube is wildly successful profit wise and should have some say over the editorial content of their ads. They have to know the damage this stuff is doing no matter how much the GOP (or Russians) are paying.
First, has anyone else noticed this or am I being individually targeted for my choice of videos? Secondly, if this is widespread, what can we do about it? Many of the channels I support and watch are liberal, anti-religious fundamentalism, environmental, space related, etc. That information needs to be supported and disseminated so boycotting Youtube is somewhat counter productive. Perhaps an email/Twitter/mail deluge to Youtube to let them know we find their behavior detestable and they need to police their political ads (or just ban them) and that our viewing will decrease if the entertainment value is affected.