How about a "don't recommend things I've already watched" option?
The thing is, I like having a watch history and I like having suggestions based on it. If I watch something that I don't want affecting my suggestions, I'll delete it from the history after watching.
The things I watch on YouTube, I generally have zero interest in watching again, and if I really want to, then I'll find it in my history. What I really don't want is for something I've seen to be recommended at the end of a video (where there is no clear indication if you've seen before it or not) or polluting the sidebar of suggestions.
I'd also very much like suggestions to fall off the list if I don't watch them in a day or two. Sometimes suggested videos stick around for weeks. I don't want to click "don't recommend this channel" or "not interested", because I might want that channel's content recommended later, and I might be generally interested in the topic, but not enough to want to watch it now.
And while we're dreaming of features: let me disable shorts permanently. I refuse to support vertical aspect video (and based on the minuscule number of views the recommended-to-me shorts get, people interested in the sort of content I am agree).
> The things I watch on YouTube, I generally have zero interest in watching again, and if I really want to, then I'll find it in my history.
There's an exception to this that I suspect is not uncommon: there's music one likes to listen to when one is chill/buzzed; having to poke into (or worse: dig thru) one's watching history is a procedure-intensive buzzkill.
> (where there is no clear indication if you've seen before it or not)
This is definitely a bug not a feature. But if the music that one evidently likes to hear and re-hear is posted prominently (based on the time of day, say) AND flagged as such, that's a feature not a bug.
youtube is clearly able to treat music tracks differently from ordinary videos. its android app won't allow you to play music in the background (a dark pattern driving sales of youtube music premium subscriptions)
A huge problem is that YT allows users to enter their own hashtags, which turns into a complete cluster of spammy tag use, They also allow users to upload their own thumbnails, instead of only using actual thumbnails from the videos, which also feeds bias.
There are very clear solutions to problems on the platform, they just choose the wrong direction so much because it feed their constant need to increase YOY profit, and it's annoying users off the platform.
An empty home page is not a good idea at all, and it forces users into opting into tracking, which is not kosher, and likely going to become a legal issue if anyone authoritative is doing their job any more.
The absolutely worst thing about shorts is that you can't easily move around the part that is playing in the video. I say easily, since there is an extremely shitty dark pattern that allows this feature, but it involves liking the video and having to reload it from your favourites. Enshittification at its finest.
The thing is, I like having a watch history and I like having suggestions based on it. If I watch something that I don't want affecting my suggestions, I'll delete it from the history after watching.
The things I watch on YouTube, I generally have zero interest in watching again, and if I really want to, then I'll find it in my history. What I really don't want is for something I've seen to be recommended at the end of a video (where there is no clear indication if you've seen before it or not) or polluting the sidebar of suggestions.
I'd also very much like suggestions to fall off the list if I don't watch them in a day or two. Sometimes suggested videos stick around for weeks. I don't want to click "don't recommend this channel" or "not interested", because I might want that channel's content recommended later, and I might be generally interested in the topic, but not enough to want to watch it now.
And while we're dreaming of features: let me disable shorts permanently. I refuse to support vertical aspect video (and based on the minuscule number of views the recommended-to-me shorts get, people interested in the sort of content I am agree).