Imagine if every time you went to a library to go read and learn history or science or poetry you had to pass through and see Playboy/Maxim/Pornhub version of science and history pulling you away. And if you succumbed and opened a volume like that once, then the next time you visited that aisle you found they had removed 10% of the educational books and added in 10% more softcore porn.
China banned a lot of types of content from their local Tiktok for children, but honestly we need bifurcated apps or ways to filter search results for thirst traps for adults too. It's not any different than putting chocolate bars in a health foods aisle at the grocery store or alcohol vending machines in a rehab facility.
How many of our next would-be Einsteins, Edisons, Teslas, etc are being distracted by Tiktok, mobile games, etc.
I agree with the other person here. It’s just the context of YouTube. Take HN for example: there’s little to no adult content on this site.
I’m in a similar camp in that I’m frustrated daily that Facebook can’t figure out that I (admittedly a single 30 male) don’t want the lewd content. I say “show less of this” on every lewd post, but it can’t figure it out.
That being said, I think the answer is fostering/finding other communities with different natures rather than changing Facebook or YouTube to be something they aren’t.
I don't think it's too much to just give feedback into the void with the hope that if enough people chime in with the same thoughts, that some day some Google PM might actually do something about it.
That being said, I'm sure its a question of $ budget for ML recommender processing and/or the cost of labeling videos. But the labeling could be done by users.
Yeah... Based on the type of content, and the type of people consuming that content, I'm not holding my breath.
... or maybe they didn't have the distractions and that was key?
For the benefit of others not au fait with social media culture, Wikipedia describes thirst traps as ‘a type of social media post intended to entice viewers sexually. It refers to a viewer’s “thirst”, a colloquialism likening sexual frustration to dehydration, implying desperation, with the afflicted individual being described as “thirsty.”’
Is a potential 21st century Einstein somehow "less valuable" because his surroundings ensured he could live up to his potential?
You're thirsty if you're horny, typically for a particular person but not always.
You're thirsting over someone if you're horny for someone in particular.
A thirst trap is an act (or video, or Instagram post, etc.) that intends to make others thirst over you. It's like a mating display, but with ulterior motives, if you want to look at it that way.
I mean, this is a game of cat and mouse. YT is already very aggressive on sexual content. Content creators just find the next line and push it there.You could require everyone making videos to be wearing suits and people would still find ways to be evocative.
At some point your best move is to self moderate. Ignore those thumbnails or aggressively click "not interested" on any content like that.
>But the labeling could be done by users.
In these times? It'd be a bloodbath of political labels being thrown at various ideaologies. It'd be a wreck.
No, this can't be automated. YT would need to pay staff and set a rubric. But I'm guessing that it's not financially impacting YT as is.
Time management is key.
It could also go the other way. Add a "misinformation" label and suddenly everything is misinformation, from Jordan Peterson speeches to live recorded NASA space launches to Spongebob clips.