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TikTok has turned culture into a feedback loop of impulse and machine learning

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292 points natalie3p | 4 comments | 10 Sep 25 16:08 UTC | HN request time: 0.718s | source
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keiferski ◴[10 Sep 25 16:33 UTC] No.45200147[source]▶
Too simple of a narrative. At the same time, YouTube videos are getting longer, and people are watching more YouTube videos on TVs than on mobile devices:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2025/02/12/launched-...

So I think we're seeing more of a bifurcation: in-depth longform videos are becoming 30, 40, 60, even 90 minutes long, whereas anything shorter than 10 minutes is being compressed to 30-60 seconds. The most popular video creators are doing both; even MrBeast routinely has videos over 30 minutes long.

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1. prophesi ◴[10 Sep 25 16:57 UTC] No.45200547[source]▶
If your Youtube video is 8 minutes or longer (and your channel is monetized), you're able to place midroll ads every minute or so to maximize ad revenue. Typically Youtube only serves a very small fraction of these midroll ads to each user; usually every 10 - 15 minutes. So 16min+ has been the sweet spot.

It's this ad incentive that has made long-form videos more popular on Youtube.

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2. eighthourblink ◴[10 Sep 25 17:00 UTC] No.45200586[source]▶
every 10 - 15 minutes? Thats cute
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3. ryandrake ◴[10 Sep 25 17:41 UTC] No.45201141[source]▶
Yea, I've seen some YouTube videos that display ~30 seconds worth of ads every 3.5 minutes of a hour long video. It's gotten quite ridiculous.
4. nicce ◴[10 Sep 25 18:08 UTC] No.45201539[source]▶
Yeah, I have unsubscribed/stopped viewing many specific creators because of this.

They start cycling content and using innovative ways to make videos artificially longer. Some videos of have "what this video is about" and "Summary" sections which can be even half of the video length in total. Sponsored sections are getting longer. There are longer pauses and less editing. The list goes on.