YouTube’s ‘Dislike’ Button Doesn’t Do What You Think

The systems are working the way they are supposed to. The report doesn't take into account how our systems actually work and therefore it's difficult for us to glean many insights The ability to block a video from being recommended to them in the future is included.

The similarity of topics, individuals, or content seems to be the difference between the interpretations of how successful their "don't recommend" inputs are. Asking the algorithm not to recommend a video or channel doesn't affect a user's access to a specific topic, opinion, or speaker This could have negative effects for viewers, like creating echo chambers, as our controls don't exclude entire topics or viewpoints.

Jesse McCrosky is a data scientist working with Mozilla on the study. On the positive side, engagement, how long users watch and how many videos they watch, and explicit feedback, including dislikes, are some of the types of feedback that can be given on the positive side. The degree to which they respect those two types of feedback is balanced. The study shows that the weight towards engagement is very high, and other feedback is not respected.

The distinction between what YouTube believes it says and what Mozilla says is important. She says that some of the findings don't contradict what the platform is saying, but show that users don't have a good understanding of what features are there so they can control their experiences. The study highlights an important problem, which is that users are confused about the control they have over their videos on the internet. The research shows the need for users to be surveyed on features of the site. It may drive people off if the feedback mechanisms aren't working as expected.

A key theme of the second part of the study is confusion over the intended function of user inputs. The people that Mozilla spoke to said that they appreciated that inputs were directed specifically at videos and channels, but that they expected it to more broadly inform the recommendations on the site.

This is not just me telling you I blocked this channel, it's something else. Ricks says that he is trying to exert more control over the recommendations he gets in the future. The company do a better job of explaining how its recommendation systems work, according to research done by the company.

There is a gap between what users think YouTube does and what it does. He says there is a discrepancy in the degree to which they are respecting signals.