HackerTube / Video
Weird Kids' Videos and Gaming the Algorithm
Folding Ideas
Folding Ideas examines weird, algorithm-gamed children's content on YouTube, from automated toddler videos and educational spam to exploitative prank channels. It looks at how autoplay and recommendation systems reward this material.
HN people cite it as an eye-opening summary of Elsagate and the manipulation of YouTube's algorithm in threads about bot-made and kids' content.
5 Hacker News mentions · 2017–2023