←back to thread

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

(www.thenexus.media)
292 points natalie3p | 1 comments | 10 Sep 25 16:08 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
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.

replies(22): >>45200188 #>>45200190 #>>45200272 #>>45200320 #>>45200321 #>>45200334 #>>45200391 #>>45200471 #>>45200547 #>>45200746 #>>45200790 #>>45201140 #>>45201428 #>>45201491 #>>45201506 #>>45202278 #>>45203309 #>>45203946 #>>45204016 #>>45205160 #>>45206190 #>>45209518 #
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.

replies(2): >>45200586 #>>45201539 #
eighthourblink ◴[10 Sep 25 17:00 UTC] No.45200586[source]▶
every 10 - 15 minutes? Thats cute
replies(1): >>45201141 #
1. 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.