Is YouTube Still a Radicalizer? An Exploratory Study on Autoplay and Recommendation

Markmann S, Grimme C


Zusammenfassung
This work investigates the functioning of YouTube's recommendation system with focus on the autoplay function. The autoplay function was often referred to as "radicalizer" in the past, as it was considered to lead towards more extremist content. By an automated data collection through browser remote control, we simulate different usage scenarios (allowing and disallowing autoplay) with personalized accounts as well as with anonymous users. This leads to multiple recommendation paths, which are analyzed. The presented analyses suggest that while YouTube continues to rely on familiar mechanisms for capturing users' attention, ongoing public criticism with respect to the recommendation system has seemingly led to changes in YouTube's algorithm parameterization and to more cautious recommendations.



Publikationstyp
Forschungsartikel in Sammelband (Konferenz)

Begutachtet
Ja

Publikationsstatus
Veröffentlicht

Jahr
2021

Konferenz
Multidisciplinary International Symposium on Disinformation in Open Online Media (MISDOOM)

Konferenzort
Oxford, UK

Herausgeber
Bright J, Giachanou A, Spaiser V, Spezzano F, George A, Pavliuc A

Erste Seite
50

Letzte Seite
65

Verlag
Springer International Publishing

Ort
Cham

Sprache
Englisch

ISSN
978-3-030-87031-7

DOI

Gesamter Text