A disturbing new Youtube trend...

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TheJollyLogger

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I just read an interesting article about a disturbing trend among YouTube, Facebook and TikTok content creators. They will purposely post videos showing poor techniques, materials, workmanship, etc. Because they actually get MORE views and comments that way. So for any homeowners on the forum, be very careful about this.
 
I just read an interesting article about a disturbing trend among YouTube, Facebook and TikTok content creators. They will purposely post videos showing poor techniques, materials, workmanship, etc. Because they actually get MORE views and comments that way. So for any homeowners on the forum, be very careful about this.

Some the stuff I see people do on Youtube is scary.
 
There are some real idiots on You Tube.Wannabe phony ''saw technicians'',woodworkers/cabinetmakers & other assorted "tradespeople'' who are more concerned about getting views & ''likes'' than actually doing something right & using safe procedures. Just cobbled up garbage,total amateur stuff.

Its pretty scary,even scarier is that literally tens of thousands (or much more in some instances) follow these clowns & believe everything they do... 🙄
 
YT is just entertainment for me, nothing more and always has been. What I tend to 'look at' with YT is what the camera sees as far as the surroundings, not the actual subject matter but the video's, for me, are pure entertainment only. I get no 'knowledge' from them at all, or very little at best.
 
YT is just entertainment for me, nothing more and always has been. What I tend to 'look at' with YT is what the camera sees as far as the surroundings, not the actual subject matter but the video's, for me, are pure entertainment only. I get no 'knowledge' from them at all, or very little at best.
I used to use youtube for learning how to do things, but now I've tended towards books.

That's not to say youtube is useless; but the tangible value is having a video, and youtube seems to have a monopoly on that. It's very helpful seeing a video of something being done, that no amount of writing can describe.

That said, when you're looking to do something more complex, books offer the advantage of being comprehensive in nature, written by a single author, with a single coherent idea. Additionally you, the reader, are the customer for the books. Thus you don't find stupid clickbait **** or other psychological attention sucks. As an example, what might be a single sentence in a book "Do this to prevent this", on youtube turns into 10 different videos with ludicrous titles "95% of people don't know this", "Your house is a ticking time bomb unless you do this", "Experts say to do this, tips to save you hundreds $$$".

The comprehensive nature of books is a big help too: if you're doing a project and have many different things you need/want guidance on the book will cover it in a logical and methodical way, whereas youtube you have to dig through like 10 different videos by 10 different people all doing things their way and re-explaining the basics every time (along with "please like and susbcribe").

Finally too, with books you get the "teach a man to fish" effect, so for example with my most recent example I was working with, I had a plumbing book, and in the introduction all the basics were laid out: types of plumbing material, their history, their advantages/disadvantages, the types of fittings that go with what type of plumbing material, etc. Youtube videos will only tell you how to do the 1 thing you're trying to do i.e. how to crimp a PEX pipe, and even then it's a shitshow of ads, opinions, and sometimes something useful. Having read the chapter on plumbing materials made my trip to the plumbing section at the hardware store way more elegant, and I didn't need to pull up my phone and search for an answer constantly.

Bonus: books don't spy on you.

[edit]

This was written like ****, I apologize, I might be hungover. The idea is I tried to convey is still there.
 
When I see them I give them a 'thumbs down'.
Thumbs down counts the same as a thumbs up in YT world, they're both engagement. Watch minutes matter a lot too. If the video maker is a putz, you're best off not watching and leaving no response.
 
I've learned a lot on Youtube, and you can still see the older, more informative videos, but not on your "home" page. Using search will still yield specific videos on an exact car model repair, for example.
 
I've learned a lot on Youtube, and you can still see the older, more informative videos, but not on your "home" page. Using search will still yield specific videos on an exact car model repair, for example.

This is it for sure. If you ever want to see just how incredibly stupid the general population is, sign out of your YT account(and thus your curated content suggestions) and take a look at what gets suggested on the YT home page to the general population. Utter retardation.
 
Maybe it's a good idea to compile some sort of list with channel names of actual bullsh*tters?
Not links to actual videos, because that could generate more views of such content.

I actually learned quite some interesting things from YT, the tinman's chainsaw cutaway series comes to mind... But it all depends on your level of expertise, I guess. Learning about 2 strokes is more or less a recent thing for me, although I messed around with 2 stroke mopeds when I was around 15.
 
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