My buddy's kid showed me his 'perfect' YouTube feed and it felt wrong

I was over at my friend Mike's place last week helping him wire a new garage outlet. His 10 year old, Leo, was showing me his YouTube feed on the living room TV, all proud because he said the algorithm 'finally got him'. It was just wall to wall Minecraft builds and those fast cut gaming clips, nothing else. He said, 'It knows I only like this stuff now.' Honestly, that hit me. The kid wasn't exploring anything new, he was just getting fed more of the exact same thing, and he thought that was good. It made me see these feeds not as helpful guides but like tiny walls being built around you without you even knowing. Made me switch off all my 'recommended' stuff on my own phone that night. Has anyone else had a moment like that, where you saw the algorithm boxing someone in?

3 comments

3 Comments

milarodriguez1d ago

Ever get that feeling you're watching someone's world get smaller? That's a rough one to see.

rowan9691d ago

My nephew's feed is just 500 versions of that "Skibidi Toilet" thing. Kid thinks he's won the internet.

allen.kai1d ago

Honestly just showed my cousin some older meme compilations and it kinda broke the cycle. He's onto something else now, idk if it's better though.