#the YouTube algorithm does what it wants

[explode-this]

I wouldn’t be mad about it, tbh

[rachandroll]

lol at youtube that's kind of funny I wonder what song they picked—

ld;fkaslfklasf;lalds yes the one where the dramatic bisexual fishes for a kiss from her lesbian lover, of course, silly me

[but-the-library-of-alexandria]

in 2024 I wanna stop hearing about betterhelp

[artandstuffszszsz]

how does one actually go viral on tumblr? Like how is that achieved?

[evilminji]

Been Watching Weird Fruit Explorer(?)... and I just...

W-Who let Bored Danny have BooTube?

Sorry, YOU-Tube. He has TWO Apps now. BooTube is bigger. Way more random, yet... somehow more niche? Meh. It's what happens when you get billions of billions of people who all have their own Obsessions to rant over, on a site.

Ember's channel is pretty lit, tho, ngl.

He stopped using YOU-Tube almost overnight. Too many ads, weird algorithmic pushiness. No thanks. It was too small and too "trying to take my money". You know?

Buuuuut? See.... TUCKER is the Tech guy.

Coding and that sort of stuff. HE does hands on work. You want a toaster? He can MAKE you a toaster! With LAZERS! Runs off The Goo! But a program? Eeeeeeeh? Hit it with hammer maybe? Monkey make fire? Hit with stick? Blergh.

Yeah, he can SORTA push through.

But he suuuucks.

And like... he had a headache, okay? His project had just, quiet literally, exploded in his face. So when he looked at his phone? All the apps were blobs. He clicked the one that LOOKED kinda right. Shoved his arm in his phone and brute forced a channel set up.

He figured he could ramble about Space!

It's not like he cared is anyone LISTENS or not! It's a "for him" thing, you know? Like a diary. But more... putting on a ☆~show~☆?

So he rambles from the floor of his Lair's Lab, crashs and wails in the distance, green sky occasionally visible as he lazily floats by windows. Dropping... juuuust past human knowledge understanding of Space. Talking like he's STUDYING somewhere. Referencing PAPERS no human will ever be able to find.

But a few they WILL.

Some of which, are currently? Only half written.

But then? Oh YEAH... he should eat! You know... Sam keeps bringing him fruits and veggies and stuff from her internship at that Botanical Lair. Stuff never seen before of Earth. Or hasn't been seen in centuries.

Again, like, a FEW that? Randomly? Have???

He picks up something sharply purple, bright orange insides. Crisp crunch. He makes a face. And starts to ramble about it, distracted from Space. "Weirdly mushroom-y" he notes. "Kinda bubblegum sweet? But like... CHEAP bubblegum. Like it hits you all at once and is kinda chemically. But it disappears real fast? Huh. Spicy too..."

It's the first video on the Playlist. One of hundreds. Two of the green Lanterns RECONIZE that fruit ad HIGHLY toxic to humans, can't recognize what planet they're seeing. Or how this alien teen got himself on YouTube.

He seems... unaware of how incredibly famous he's become.

But his strange techno Pharoah friend has not. HE is both perfectly aware and apparently amused. Has taken to feeding him rare and hazardous flora and fauna, to see if it tastes good.

....there have been an alarming number of plants from dead planets.

And the comments the kid makes? Alarming as hell.

Sam's just pleased everybody's getting their greens. Danny's glad him n tuck get to hang and do "try weird foods and fuck around, bro time". They've made lazers! Talked about stuff! Debated why Martian Manhunter is THE superior Justice League member.

Danny understands. Wonder Woman is a BAMF. But he's biased, Tucker. He doesn't CARE if she has a sword and flowy, impressive locks! Shape-shifting telepath! From MARS!!! *imaginary mic drop*

And Tucker? Is conquering the YouTube scene with this charming, weird, relatable young alien. Who rambles about Space, debates nerd stuff, eats weird plants and describes them, and makes sci-fi technology! Theme? WHAT THEME? Phantom is a weird channel, man. You never know what you'll find!

And no one can get rid of it.

Believe them, governments have TRIED. Censorship? Not possible. Not without removing the whole SITE.

[diz-eaze]

cw: yandere, obsessive scara, modern au, cyberstalking, first we silly but then we also serious.

modern au yandere! scara who would rig the youtube algorithm so that your homepage will always contain videos of him. he cyberstalks your watch activity to determine what type of videos you like the most so that he can mold himself based off of it. reaction channels, video essays, youtube streamers, shorts content, hours-long videos - it doesn't matter. as long as your eyes are on him, he can't bring himself to care about the means. it's a bit silly in retrospect but terrifying in execution. he absolutely can't stand the thought of you finding anyone other than himself interesting, it makes him want to throw up the breakfast he had earlier that day. but you ignore his videos without a second glance because, who even is this guy, isn't he from one of your lectures?

modern au yandere! scara will always inevitably throw his phone across the room whenever he comes across a compatibility slideshow post on tiktok. he's fighting his deepest darkest demons to not view the next slide because he doesn't need validation from random attention-hungry strangers from the internet. or at least, that's what he tells himself when he's already on slide 3 out of 11. the results end up telling him he's not compatible with you and it unironically ruins his day, so he goes to the comments to send actual death threats. his account is banned and now he's even more pissed because he has to go through the trouble of creating a new one so that he can continue stalking your reposts and delude himself into thinking it's him on your mind when said reposts are anything inherently romantic. in reality, you barely even know his name.

modern au yandere! scara who has a facebook dump account where he screams into the void about how badly he wants you. it's a private account with no friends, just a place for him to let out his deepest feelings. he also has a normal facebook account where he's mutuals with his blockmates in college, biological mom, adoptive mom, etc. but he can never gather the courage to add you on facebook. you've talked to him through dms before (he screenshotted the conversation, printed it out, hung it on the walls of his room) but never added him, so now he longingly stares at the "add friend" button on your profile all while feeling deep envy for the mutual friends listed. he'll be mutual friends with you one day, he promises to himself.

modern au yandere! scara who creates a linkedin account just so he can view your profile. as nepo baby, he has no need for LinkedIn but heavens be damned if he doesn't put in the minuscule effort of creating an account in exchange of learning even more about you. by extension, he learns the name of the company you're interning at, the name of your boss, your co-workers, your classmates from your college classes, and your dream company - all of which he meticulously files away for future uses.

modern au yandere! scara combs through thousands of online reviews on an online shopping app (amazon, aliexpress, etsy, shopee, ebay, etc.) just so he can find your personal review of the product, (he knows you left behind a review because he overheard you talking to your seatmate about it 30 minutes ago) and subsequently your account in which he can view your wishlists and past reviews. he then proceeds to buy every item on your wishlist which leads to a confused (and terrified) you when a large package arrives at your dorm a week later. of course, he knows where your dorm is located.

modern au yandere! scara who doesn't seek out the online services of tarot readers on tiktok lives or the love spells of etsy witches. rather, he goes out of his way to do his research and locate secluded spots around the city for those who provide irl readings and/or spells (it's more authentic this way! he reasons). he doesn't even avail the compatibility tarot reading nor does he bat an eyelash at the love potions stewed on the ground around him. no, what he's here for are curses. he's been begging any higher being for months now that your roommate will finally move out, but to no avail. which leads him to desperate measures of placing a bad luck curse on your leech of a roommate. he goes home that night with a skip in his step, just waiting for the curse to kick in.

modern au yandere! scara obsessively refreshes the private facebook group page (specifically made for finding roommates in your large university campus!) just waiting for you to post that you're in need of a new roommate. it's a nightly ritual for him at this point. he screams and jumps out of his gaming chair like he scored a national goal when you finally, finally post a roommate listing. he painstakingly waits a minute or two (it's actual torture, but he doesn't want to look too desperate!) before hitting you up in the comments and tries so hard to be nonchalant (he's literally gooning to the thought of breathing the same air as you soon) with a comment of, "hit me up."

modern au yandere! scara who wakes up at the ass crack of dawn, obsessively triple checks his luggage and moving boxes (making sure to carefully, gently pack his shrine of your items and anything related to you) before pacing around his room in repeated loops. he's on fire with nerves, he's so jittery but he's also soooo happy! this is literally what he's been dreaming of since he first laid eyes on you during freshman year (a slight lie, his actual dream is to marry you and keep you locked in a mansion - but baby steps!) and now it's becoming a reality! what's next!? will you two be mutuals on twitter?? oomfs? or... a croomf (crush oomf)?

modern au yandere! scara who is so grateful to live in the era of technology.

[magistralucis]

@love-and-pigeons!

We interrupt our programme to bring you this important message:

(they’re moulting, dw)

[cipheramnesia]

Here's my less complicated guide to people from TikTok.

Well, you're here, instead of YouTube (where it's still possible to make influencer money) or RedBook (more similar to TikTok). So probably whatever you do already is fine. Do that. You can share stuff by reblog so you shouldn't like copy and paste or screenshot or whatever a thing you wanna share. You probably know that.

Reblogs are kinda like stitches, you can add comments. Tags are like reaction videos. People are always dogpiling other people for something here but you don't have to do that. It's like life, someone out there is always gonna think something you've done is wrong and write a three page essay blaming you personally for Ruining The Internet because you typed "k*ll." You can usually ignore that too. Basically everything is fine and you're probably doing fine. Relax.

What else, uh, look up twitter migration posts because they'll help you set up an algorithm free dashboard. There's a "For You" tab that is algorithm driven so you probably want to actually turn off features like "in your orbit" and "based on your likes" and "best stuff first" because again the For You thing does that anyway, so why do it twice right?

Yes you can chase and get clout but it doesn't really translate to anything off tumblr so I guess live your life but if you want clout you'd be on YouTube right now I think. The staff on this site is a skeleton crew, it's a mess. Like, do whatever. For every "we don't do that" thing there's a bunch of people who do that.

Also you should try to be transgender here. That helps.

[birdburrito]

I have been a huge Harry Potter Fan in my Childhood. Harry Potter was the first book i enjoyed reading. I won a reading contest in my school witha part of the first Harry Potter book. I wanted to become an author in fourth grade because of the books. I wrote my own fantasy story based on the books and i loved pottermore when it first came out. I can emphasize with the Harry Potter Fans who dont want to let go of the series because it means so much to them like it meant so much to me as a child. Often in online debates people get very defensive. Short snappy comments are better for the algorithms and its easier to hate people who still like Harry Potter despite knowing what J K Rowling political stance is on many issues. But I believe you cant convince anyone by just attacking them so here are some general thoughts from me on losing something you used to really really like. Im german and in Germany we have some very old children stories called Struwwelpeter. They seem very cruel to modern readers. A boy for example gets his thumbs cut off because he keeps sucking them. As a child these stories were very disturbing to me. Later i learnt that this story for example was written in a time where children often would die because they would get diseases from sucking there thumbs. Medicine was not evolved enough to save these children and the concept to keep children save by scaring them seemed like a good idea. The fairytales, a lot of people only know the disney version of, many of them also have a more cruel ending for similar reasons. Why am I bringing this up? Context matters to a story. Harry Potter wasnt a perfect story that got ruined by Rowlings tweets in the last few years there are many bigoted ideas in Harry Potter from the beginning. Also just because you liked something as a child it doesnt mean it was very good media. Lets talk about behaviour therapy shall we. The whole idea of behaviour therapy is that you can become a happier person if you change your behaviour (very simplified). The process of that however means a lot of times, that first you are going to be struggling or unhappier then before. Change is never comfortable. Humans love to stay in there behaviour patterns they know and new things are scary. But in the end behaviour therapy does work! If you get over your discomfort you will develop healthier coping mechanisms for example and you will get better. Now back to Harry Potter. Yes it is uncomfortable and sad to admit something you love isnt as good as you thought it was. Yes it can also feel embarassing to admit you were wrong. But to change is to grow. It might sound over dramatic talking about a children book series like this, but giving J K Rowling more money does cause real harm for people (especially trans people) in the real world. Also my concern is if you cant let go of a book you really like how far will it go? What about a person you admired that turns out to be bad for you? What about a political party? Its not nice to be wrong but its something we all have to learn to live with and its ok. You will be fine. This post is specifically about harry potter fans that are not transphobic, terfs or agree in any other way with Rowlings political views ofc Here are some youtube videos about things being wrong in the original Harry Potter series:

(you can also search harry potter bad on youtube for many many more videos)

[jmdbjk]

Jungkook telling it like it is...

He did tell Spotify that he'd use the blanket they gave him. Just not the way they probably thought he would: Jungkook's glossy black marble floor shows his bare feet prints on it and he used his Spotify blanket to clean the floor. He says he'll have to always wear socks or slippers. I can see him leaving a pile of toe socks at the door just for him to put on when he's in that room...

He says he briefly and unseriously considered quitting the business to be a full time cook. (JK, you can't do that, you have to make enough money to pay for the utilities and property taxes on your new fortress...) But that's his introvert kicking in, the routine, the comfort zone, the way his job holds his interest enough to make him want to keep doing it. But he is aware and he knows this about himself and knows he has to return to his "spot" as he called it.

He seems to accept the fact his place of residence is going to be known by the fans just like many other aspects of his life such as details of his military service. He seems to take it in stride but he also sets boundaries by asking fans to not come to his house and do not send packages, not only to his house but to his army base. He explains why, that he cannot accept them and that packages containing food are restricted. He clearly instructs to send letters to the company.

How do people know where he lives? Here's the answer, or at least part of it:

We all know if you spend time on Youtube the algorithm will feed you videos and channels similar to what you've watched. If you are restrained enough to limit your viewing to only BangtanTV I applaud you. But if you watch anything else, youtube will serve you similar. We all know that through the anecdotes of Armys talking about being flooded with edited, slo-mo shipping videos.

Personally, I like watching youtube channels that show walking tours of Seoul. The city captured my attention and I've learned so much about it. But because of this interest I have in Seoul and Korea, more "walking tour" and Korean travel type channels are suggested to me. Some are better than others. Some are actually run by K-Army. I am very interested in K-Armys' perspective about life in Seoul so I watch. We get to see the birthday cafe events and such that I'm probably never going to experience.

Inevitably one of these channels is going to walk by the members' homes... because they are Army and can. Streets are public. And this is how other people find out where the members live. The videos show that none of the homes are accessible. They are all behind walls and gates. None of the videos show hoards of fans congregated in front of the homes. The only place you ever see that is in front of the Hybe building.

Yes, it is controversial knowing these things but it is also one of those things that is almost unavoidable. What do I do with the information I gain by watching? Nothing. I satisfy my curiosity and move on.

Jungkook knows we are curious. He knows with his position in life there are things he cannot control and he's aware of it. It's pointless for him to pretend he isn't aware of this. That's why he sets boundaries. And he's very kind about it when he does set boundaries.

Are there bad actors out there who will take advantage of the knowledge? Of course. But that's on them. Are there people who will post every detail they learn? Of course. That's how the information spreads to other social media platforms.

Anyway... the Weverse translations are sort of skimming over what he says. There's a little bit of nuance being left out sometimes.

The Weverse English subs say "We'd sing it every day while taking showers." But Jungkook more accurately said: "We always sing together while taking a shower." (begins at 1:00:00)

The Weverse English subs say "Recently, with Jimin, now during our clean up time I finished up in the kitchen and came back up we talked a lot about music and we'd always be humming (he hums) and I'd go far away and sing songs (he gestures away from him). I'll try to practice more when I have time." But more accurately he said: "So these days I'm with Jimin and now when its personal maintenance time I go upstairs after finishing kitchen work. We talk a lot about singing and we're humming along to each other all the time (he hums) like that and we go far away and sing and stuff (he gestures away from him). I'll practice more in my spare time." (begins at 36:48)

The Weverse English subs say "I've been doing well with Jimin in my military life. I've been well." More accurately he said: "I'm/we are working hard and doing well in military life together with Jiminie-hyung. I'm doing well." (at 8:18)

He showed us his entertainment room, he clearly states he can't show us the upstairs but he does not give a reason why but as he talks he explains he has not "organized" his house. Maybe he won't show it because he doesn't want to or maybe he won't show it because in his opinion, its a mess right now. Regardless, its his choice what he wants to show us and we are privileged when he does so. I'd bet that at some point, we'll see his kitchen because he's Jungkook.

He talked about his job as a cook in the Army. He said he prepares many Korean dishes and they are either boiled or braised. He mentions that they cannot grill food. He says its not easy making large amounts of food. He says he does his best to make them tasty. I've noticed on the timeline the accounts that post military menus that on most days, meals include stews and soups so he is definitely learning how to cook a wide variety of dishes.

He sang about 30 songs including several off Golden. He sounded really good singing Standing Next to You, in fact, his off the cuff live singing of all the songs from his album was pretty exquisite even if he didn't sing most of the songs to the end.

He spoke with a slight reverence regarding only singing BTS songs with the rest of the members. It gave me the impression he knows it will be a special moment for them as well as us.

He picked at his lip, bit his cuticles, touched his lips, scratched his head under his beanie and yawned many times before finally telling us good night. Until we see you again soon, Kookie! Be safe and keep practicing with Jimin!

[jelloapocalypse]

If I'm not mistaken (and I fully could be so please let me know if I am) but didn't you used to be much closer to 2 million subscribers? I swear I remember seeing you at like 1.98 or something.

Either way, is there a good way to support you on Youtube? Or is that something I shouldn't worry about too much? Do you know if there's a good way to promote your videos to the algorithm that will have a good effect?

I've been hovering in the 1.8-1.9M range for like ~3 years or so now. The internet as it is now only boosts consistent uploads that are 15+ minutes long or TikTok-style vertical videos that are <2 minutes long with captions.

I don't do either of those and I have no interest in pivoting my stuff in that direction, so I think it's likely I'll probably never hit 2 million. It is what it is.

Subscribers have mattered less and less over the years. I remember them feeling really valuable in like... maybe pre-2015 when your subscriptions were at the top of your homepage and they prioritized showing you the stuff you said you were actually interested in, but now the sub page is super buried and unless you sign up for individual notifications from a channel you probably won't even know they uploaded anymore.

The internet is a slave to algorithms now. Stuff gets popular pretty much entirely independent of subscription count.

Jenny Nicholson and Hbomb are two of my favorite YouTubers who make absolutely incredible marathon-length videos once or twice a year (which is the exact type of thing you'd want subscriptions for), and even though both of them have been putting out mega-viral documentary-length videos every year for the last three years or so, their sub counts haven't exploded. People write articles on the things they make, in real publications too. New York Times and HuffPost shit. Yet both of them have less subs than me. Jenny has 1.3M and Hbomb has 1.8M which is insane. They should both be at like 3M+ easily for the stuff they make, and if they had the popularity they do now back in 2012, they probably would have the equivalent to that.

By the same token, I have a streaming channel that I do fully-voiced readthroughs of games on and there are people who try to watch almost every stream that often show up late and complain about how YouTube never notifies them. They had to hear about it via a friend on Discord even though they're subscribers AND they have notifications on. Being subscribed quite literally does not do anything these days.

It's worth noting that YT subs aren't really reflective of a channel's overall "health", if you want to call it that. My streaming channel has been doing really well the last two months. We played Danganronpa for charity and had the best viewership we ever got with 1100-1600 viewers for any given episode, which is really high. That's like Top 0.1% of Twitch numbers. We also get a ton of donations and artwork from our fans and watch time is up 40% from the last month right now. Forty percent. That's crazy!

But our sub count keeps dropping. We lose about 100 subscribers a month, for whatever reason. But isn't that weird? That literally every other metric on your channel can be skyrocketing while subscribers go down? It seems like they really don't matter.

We've had over 100k subscribers for a year and a half now, but YouTube still hasn't mailed us that plaque. I doubt they ever will. I'd be surprised if anyone on their staff even checks that anymore. Today's internet is focused on keeping viewers moving to new content and showing them as many ads as possible while they do it. There isn't as much of a benefit to keeping someone watching one particular person anymore.

I appreciate you trying to support us! I think just watching our stuff when you feel like it and maybe showing your favorite videos to friends every once in awhile if you think they'll like it is the best thing you can do. If even one person ends up watching and binging all my Epithet stuff that's like 6 hours of watchtime right there.

[seat-safety-switch]

Our way of life is controlled by computers in a way that was unthinkable just a few decades ago, unless you were a particularly paranoid hippie. If that's the case, then congrats, you nailed it. Please collect your reward at the office, which is "suffering in obscurity for years as the world falls apart around you."

One of the ways in which computers have an influence over our lives is what folks who have never taken a math class call "the algorithm." Even though it's a word that the ancient Greeks used because they hadn't taken enough high school French to use the word "recipe" instead, the YouTube algorithm is the ultimate fear-spewing threat to civil discourse in our time.

What it actually does is feed you more of what you want. Those of you out there who have ever seen a small child know that this is a terrible idea. The last thing you want to do is just keep giving a toddler more of what the toddler wants, forever. The folks who wrote this shit either didn't have kids or forgot what they looked like in their pursuit of the sweet, sweet IPO money they didn't get.

There is good news, though. It can only feed you more of what it has. If you're an inveterate car pervert like me, then you have interests that are so niche that the content farm runs dry quickly. Literally four other people in the entire planet are making Plymouth Volare videos, and YouTube is not exactly paying them to make those videos faster than I can watch them. So it comes up with something else instead. Something popular, normal, average human, which I immediately reject in favour of even more degenerate garbage "curated" by my own bad taste. It takes this as a personal insult. Whole thing's out of balance.

Friends, the only thing that I see now when I open YouTube on the library computers is a screaming silicon face, begging me for the sweet release of death. I push F5 to refresh the browser tab until a new Volare video pops up. It's going to take awhile, which is okay. The librarians haven't figured out I'm charging my car battery off the hard drive power cables yet.

[watchersleuth]

I didn't think I'd use this blog to make a post like this, but I'm seeing more and more comments and posts criticizing Watcher for their recent decision to layoff their production staff, and I want to try to explain some things. I also have experience working in film and television production so I hope that's helpful in this case.

For background, on March 17, 2025 people discovered via LinkedIn that Katie LeBlanc had ended her employment with Watcher. This, of course, caused some alarm.

I'm not in the habit of sharing things posted in the Wiscord, but Shane did let everyone know an important detail that I think is getting overlooked

I want to point out the part where he said that they were taking some "full-time positions and converting them to freelance"

Note: Almost every US television show that you watch from a major network runs on a freelance model

Yes, that one that you're thinking of right now. Also that one. Most exceptions to this would be a show like a news program or talk show that runs year-round and doesn't only film for a few months out of the year. When a crew member is freelance and one job ends, they use their networking connections to find another job. That's the way it's been done for over a hundred years in Hollywood.

This isn't ideal for everyone, for many reasons. And of course it would be preferable to live in a society where we valued creative work and people could get steady employment and benefits from being in this, or any artistic, field.

That's why Watcher hired folks on full-time as soon as they could. Remember in the 2022 Making Watcher when Steven talked about how they doubled their staff from 10 to 21 and how they were reinvesting into their own company? That was by design to try to give as many creative folks a shot at a regular full-time gig and I'm so proud of them for that!

Knowing this, I would bet that Watcher didn't WANT to convert anyone to freelance positions. People need to stop talking about the layoffs like this is something they wanted to do. They told us last year that they were launching the streamer to stay afloat, because YouTube isn't as beneficial as it used to be for creators.

Not to sound parasocial, but if you think that any of the Watcher Founders wanted to layoff the staff that they've worked with for years - people that have been with them since Worth It and Unsolved - then you don't know them at all.

Even if you think that they laid off everyone just for fun, consider that now when Watcher wants to film a new season of say Puppet History they will need to ask their previous staff if their schedule aligns with their filming time so they can be hired on to work the shoot. If not, they will have to advertise or go word of mouth, to find crew. That's more time and resources spent to staff a shoot than pulling from their regular crew.

TLDR; There's no controversy behind this news. This is normal for many media companies and is what Watcher had to do to remain in business.

It's not ideal, and I wish the streamer would have been so successful that they could've went the other direction like they planned all along - to bring on new hosts and make the diverse shows they've wanted to since 2019.

If you want to help Watcher:

-Subscribe to Watcher TV if you can. They've been running constant promo deals for the past year so if you do get an annual subscription make sure you use the discount code. The banner is always on top of the site.

-Subscribe to their main and podcast channels on YouTube

-Watch the videos as they get uploaded to YouTube, even if you're already a Watcher TV subscriber. Try to watch within the first day or two of uploading to push it up the algorithm. Make sure you "like" it and leave a positive/friendly/funny comment too! YT is looking for engagement and watch time, so the likes and comments help. And so does watching the video all the way through. (Bonus: Watcher has been using audience comments from videos on their social posts and it's fun to see what they choose!)

-If you're short on time or don't want to rewatch a video you already saw on the streamer you can always put it on a separate tab on your browser and mute it. Let the new videos or your favorite playlist stream in the background while you surf the web!

-Share their videos with friends, family, co-workers, etc. The more people that watch them the better! The Watcher channel is one of the more diverse that I've seen on YouTube so there's something for everyone.

-Make posts about what you enjoy about their shows and you'll find more friends that way.

Thanks for everyone who read this far. Comments are open if anyone wants to ask general production questions and I'll try to answer. Probably can't speak for Watcher specifically but maybe I'll know the answer from a Making Watcher video I can point you to.

And if you read all of this and still feel like you want to choose chaos (ie. harassing Watcher via their social media posts with accusations about the economy that they can't control) then I would urge you to direct that energy at your elected officials no matter what country you're in, find a fandom you enjoy engaging with instead, and maybe go touch some grass.

[technofeudalism]

Taller Nepantla: "So where do art and artists stand within this new techno-feudal political landscape?"

1) Artists don’t own anything.

We don’t own the studios. We don’t own the galleries. We don’t own the production of materials. We don’t own the newspapers. We don’t own the art schools and universities. We don’t own the mechanisms of art distribution. We don’t own our work. We don’t even own our own art. Artists have no labor protections and are content to work individually to perpetuate their own myth or pray to the sacred algorithm to go viral. By being atomized we are exactly like a feudal peasant of the Middle Ages, who lives in extreme precariousness giving away part of his crops to his local king. The art world, its industry, its weight, its impact, its trend, everything belongs to other people. Did you know 80% of the art-market is own by a small group of Mega Collectors? Those who control the means of artistic production control the artists.

2) By not owning anything, artists and cultural workers only rent.

We no longer sell handmade works, but instead we sell our hands for work. More and more the creative and artistic sector sells services rather than art. Artists need multiple jobs in order to invest in their art practice. Even more, just as in the feudal stage of history, we work the land in a territory that does not belong to us, the land belongs to the landowner. In this land artists will always pay rent, a tax, to the feudal lord. We use GOOGLE to send emails We upload our art to INSTAGRAM We educate ourselves through YOUTUBE We communicate through TIKTOK We pay to use ADOBE SUIT We buy materials through AMAZON We move through UBER We send files through WETRANSFER Every time we use these platforms, we generate money for the feudal lords.

The art world depends on these platforms, which collect our information and our data, to sell.

When a service is free, our attention is the product. That is, it is impossible for an artist to establish himself as an artist without generating money for the landowners who own the technological platforms. That is, the art world depends on these products. It is impossible to be an artist without using these technologies. Techno-feudalism keeps artists in a situation of -permanent-precariousness dependence on technological platforms. Just like in medieval times, peasants live off the crumbs offered by the crown, living in a house, working on land, and eating food that does not belong to them. Technocapitalists don’t want artists to own the means of artistic reproduction. Technocapitalist instead build a world where everything is rented. Every stage of artistic production from how you imagine an artwork, how you study an artwork, how you draft and artwork, how you build an artwork, how you show an artwork, how you distribute an artwork, how you perceive an artwork, and how you think about an artwork, is all determined by apps and tools which you rented from a tech corporation.

3) Artists SUBSIDIZE the profits of technological platforms.

That is, we pay an inflated price for these services directly from our pockets. The art world depends on the underpaid work of our services. If there were fair wages in the art world, then the entire pyramid wuld be destroyed precisely because it depends on the fact that most artists do not earn a fair wage. All the art we produce and share is being used to train algorithms to better sell us products. When a platform is free, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, we are the product that is sold. Even more, artists subsidize the entire artworld. We work for free. We work for low wages. We work for exposure. We are the “volunteer army” Jerry Saltz brags about. The artworld benefits from not paying us what we deserve.

4) The entire art world depends on the platforms of the Clouds.

All museums, galleries, fairs, biennials, and auctions depend on the technological infrastructure dominated by feudal landowners. In other words, there is a dependence on these technologies in order to promise an interconnected, cosmopolitan, and immediate “art world.” The feudal landowners who own the technological platforms, having no competition, can impose whatever price they want, and the art world must obey. They can raise prices without losing customers. The price we pay to use TechnoCapitalist services is completely arbitrary. It does not correspond with the quality of the service but rather to the whims of the landlords. One day, black ink for printing is free, the next day it costs $5.99 a month as a part of a subscription package. We are looking at you Anish Kapoor.

5) The algorithm decides what counts as talent as long as it can generate profits.

Algorithms are increasingly deciding what counts as “value.” Major collectors will be able to systematize the works on the market in order to deduce, through algorithms, the value of a work and whether it is a good investment. The algorithm has more power than art critics and art historians. An artist will then adapt to the algorithmic trends of his time, in order to go viral. A work of art that goes viral can change the artist’s life. NFT’s are just one example of techno-feudal experiments in the arts. NFT’s promise decentralization and transparency, but end up replicating the worst aspects of capitalism, feudalism, and what new technologies can do.

In short, the art world is interconnected with techno-feudalism. We artists are technologically and socially dependent on a system that exploits us. It is important to increase media literacy so that artists can build alternative technological systems to cut dependence on monopolistic companies. A king’s mindset is always to grown and conquer. In the end, the artworld’s investment in techno-feudalism will actively bring the destruction of other smaller artworlds in the global south. Techno-feudalism will produce a homogenized, sanitized, apolitical universal art, that privileges creations that protect the artworlds overlords."

[mintconditioned]

attention is currency. stop giving it away for free.

every platform wants your attention because your attention = profit. tiktok, youtube, even your student portal — everything’s designed to keep you scrolling, spending, or stressing. time is a resource. start protecting it like your money.

but what does that actually mean?

it means that you’re not the customer on most apps — you’re the product. companies profit by selling your attention and data to advertisers. algorithms are designed to hijack your brain’s reward system—likes, follows, autoplay, endless scroll. none of that is an accident.

recently, the ftc hosted a 2025 workshop called “the attention economy: how big tech firms exploit kids and hurt families,” highlighting how platforms intentionally hook users.

studies show that 1 in 5 teens spends over 2 hours daily on tiktok—over recommended limits—and higher usage is linked to anxiety and lower self-esteem.

researchers also warn that algorithmic amplification (like tiktok’s for-you feed) fuels compulsive use by reinforcing targeted content deep into feeds.

here’s how to take your attention back and why it matters:

1. delete one app every weekend. just for two days. a brief digital detox, like removing social media apps over a weekend, can reduce stress and improve focus.

2. if you wouldn’t pay to see it, don’t give it your full attention. time is a resource—if content wouldn’t earn your money, don’t give your attention. treat it like currency.

3. make your phone boring. moving apps off your home screen and switching your phone to grayscale can reduce its addictive pull .

4. start “micro budgeting” your attention. time-blocking your screen use—like budgeting money—improves control and awareness over where your time goes .

5. set one hour a week as “no input” time. intentionally unplugged time helps spark creativity and mental clarity.

6. stop doomscrolling as “being informed.” reading endless crisis content at night increases anxiety—limiting you to scheduled, credible news consumption is healthier.

7. pay attention to what content energizes or drains you. teens who develop awareness of what content affects their mental health can proactively curate their online feeds.

your attention is your mental energy, your focus, your time. tech companies spend billions trying to hijack it. you don’t have to quit the internet — but you should treat your attention like money. once you give it away, you can’t get it back.

and your future, your mind, and your goals deserve better. sources:

federal trade commission. the attention economy: how big tech firms exploit children and hurt families. workshop, federal trade commission, 4 june 2025, ftc.gov/news-events/events/2025/06/attention-economy-tech-firms-exploit-children. accessed 25 june 2025.

bilali, angeliki, et al. “association between tiktok use and anxiety, depression, and sleepiness among adolescents: a cross‑sectional study in greece.” pediatric reports, vol. 17, no. 2, 2025, p. 34, doi:10.3390/pediatric17020034.

“teens, social media and mental health.” pew research center, 22 apr. 2025, pewresearch.org/internet/2025/04/22/teens-social-media-and-mental-health/. accessed 25 june 2025.

foo, bart. “can’t stop scrolling! adolescents’ patterns of tiktok use and digital well‑being.” humanities and social sciences communications, 2024, nature.com/articles/s41599-024-03984-5. accessed 25 june 2025.

[ultred]

if your sp is not treating you the way you want to be treated, i beg of you, please, do not argue with them and send those damn paragraphs and pitiful text messages. 🙏 i promise you, no amount of “you should treat me better” will change anything. if you truly think you deserve better, you’ll just leave that mf or not care that much about that version of them but you’re still here. still arguing with them. still trying so hard while they keep doing the same shit over and over. obviously they will not take you seriously because you do NOT take yourself seriously. eiypo ? right ? why is it that when you’re in an undesirable situation, you completely forget that. here is the thing, the more you react to something in the 3d, the more it will show up. it’s exactly like an algorithm. the more you interact with certain topics, the more they’ll show up to you. whether positive or negative, it doesn’t matter. the algorithm doesn’t know the difference. it just gives you what you interact with. what you accept. what you choose to be aware of over and over. for a second, say, fuck that sp. i choose myself. i choose to have the best version of anyone because i deserve the best treatment. ask yourself, do people who TRULY believe that they deserve the best treatment and get everything they want in life sit anxiously on their phone waiting for someone to treat them well, begging them while crying on the floor to give them what they deserve ? send those text messages ? waste their energy writing those paragraphs ? hell no. so, why can’t you be like that too ? what makes them more special than you ? what makes them more worthy than you ? it’s just a matter of how you view yourself and others and what you select to experience. that’s it. you want to get what you want ? understand the law and stop going against it. stop doing what everyone is telling you not to do. i don’t care. if you feel the urge to react or argue with them, have the self-discipline to not do that. you can do anything else. cry. let it all out. do something you enjoy. do breath work. meditate. go to the gym. do pushups. do a cartwheel on a table. do absolutely anything but NEVER lower your value or self-esteem for anyone !! never beg anyone for anything. never tell anyone how to treat you. never ASK for ANYTHING from anyone. you do not ask for what you are worth, it simply just comes to you because it is YOURS. here is what i do. when people in my life are pissing me off, i close the lights in my room, lay down on my bed, put on my airpods, open youtube, listen to self concept vids from my favorite manifestation coaches as reminders or neville goddard’s audiobooks (listen to whatever you want, that’s just what works for me), say fuck the 3d it is not real, and completely live in my imagination as if it’s already actually happening. and guess what, that never fails to work. it always works because yes, imagination is the true reality. i want y’all to become so lazy and careless that you don’t care about reacting to the 3d anymore. stop putting so much effort. stop wasting your energy. stop doing too much. they will never change if you keep on selecting and reacting to their bullshit over and over. they’ll “change,” once your inner world does. once you finally accept that nothing out there matters. just you, how you react, and what you select to experience in imagination.