YouTube’s kids app has a rabbit hole problem
Rebecca Heilweil,
Vox, Recode,
May 17, 2021
The 'rabbit hole problem' is this: you watch one thing and then the algorithm takes you deeper and deeper down into whatever topic you were watching. I've seen this myself listening to Comedian podcasts which takes me from comedians I like to comedians I find crude and offensive. Amazon music has taken to switching me over to an 'artist radio' stream instead of simply stopping at the end of an album I was listening to. That's all fine if there's an off switch - but for YouTube Kids there's no off switch. Unless you're right there watching with them, the algorithm will take them down the rabbit hole, sometimes to some interesting content, but sometimes to some dark place. "It's not clear why YouTube Kids was designed to prevent autoplay from being turned off or why YouTube has taken so long to address complaints about the feature."
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