I enjoy watching gaming content on YouTube.
There, I said it. Yes, I am an adult and I play video games. A lot of grown-ups do that so it’s more than OK and not “weird”. Sometimes I plan on purchasing and watch some playthrough of it before shelling out my money, sometimes I never plan on buying the game and I’m just curious, and sometimes I need help to get past parts of games so I watch videos to help me.
While viewing an upload of the new Red Dead 2 game from YouTuber Centerstrain01, the gamer asked his viewers to remember to leave likes for the video if they enjoyed it. He then went on to talk about the how to help his (and other videos) appear in search engines better by not immediately leaving YouTube after viewing because “YouTube’s algorithms can be really weird…if you do (leave) the algorithm thinks what you watched wasn’t good, therefore it doesn’t promote my videos anymore.”
The information Centerstrain01 revealed really got me thinking about how algorithms influence so much of what we see and do even outside of the YouTube space. Then I began thinking about how libraries are affected by algorithms as the “information gatekeepers” we are. Algorithms help decide which books to order and what databases to purchase assess to. Algorithms influence EVERYTHING online, the social media pages our patrons use on library computers and of course, the “fake news” they will eventually come across. That is only a part of it all, but it is a lot. Discernment definitely comes into play.
I ended up looking online for more information and came across this blog post with links to even more writing on the topic. It’s pretty interesting stuff and worth your time to read. Also, if you like gaming. check out Centerstrain01’s page
All that down the YouTube gaming rabbit hole, neat.
Author: Luchrita Fulton
okellylibrary.wordpress.com 