The Youtube Search Controversy: The Consequences of Algorithms on Content Creators
Articles referenced:
- https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/aug/12/youtubers-feeling-burn-video-stars-crumbling-under-pressure-of-producing-new-content
- https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44279189
The rise in the information age as we moved to the Internet has brought with it a number of consequences, in particular, the way in which people now discover and access information.
Where is a good place to go for dinner tonight?
How do we compute the eigenvalue of a matrix?
What fashion trends are in lately?
These are all questions that one might answer after searching on Yelp, Google, or another search engine.
Yet consumers of this information tend to neglect the effects of these search results on those who actually produce the information that they consume. In fact, producers dedicate a lot of thought, effort, and strategy into their content such that they can adequately share it with others and derive sustenance from it. When errors or oversights occur in search result algorithms, their consequences are felt heavily by these producers.
An example of this is the topic of Youtube’s search algorithm, which has come under a lot of criticism recently by content creators who feel like they are being pushed out of the market for factors other than the quality of their content as a result of nuances in Youtube’s search algorithm.
One does not have to venture far to see these criticisms.
Everywhere on Youtube are videos channels post to call out Youtube’s video search algorithm for disrupting or even curtailing the growth their channels.
Recently, Youtube started testing an algorithm that changed the order that videos are displayed in the subscription feed such that instead of displaying videos in chronological order of posting, Youtube displays those that it decides the user “wants to watch.”
The effects of this one change are that smaller Youtubers may be pushed out of the market because Youtube’s algorithm decides their videos are not as desirable. Big time Youtubers have all come out against this change.
On top of these changes, Youtube’s algorithm has been criticized for favoring channels with regular uploads and narrowed focus in content nature. Such algorithm pushes content creators to pursue producing a high volume of content as opposed to more selected, high quality content. The hindrance this poses to smaller Youtubers as well as the burnout it creates in bigger Youtubers is the most commonly cited complain.
Yet, based on what we have learned in this class about page ranking, hubs, and authorities, we can sympathize with Youtube’s algorithm programmers. How does one balance the quantitative analysis of videos with the personal qualitative needs of their creators? Questions such as this are certainly important to consider as we address more complicated needs in networks.