YouTube – great and awful

As note foreign media, for the beginning of 2019, tens specialized by YouTube channels in a constant duty carry out the massive actions directed to inoculation at certain groups of people of necessary information and specific political and social views.

Set of advertizing mechanisms of a video hosting of YouTube which belongs to the American multinational corporation Google allow to have the most direct impact on focus groups of the different countries. Thanks to the thought-over system of collecting of personal data and also need of the indication of all basic data on the user at registration on service, the company could create extremely informative database in which it is possible to select people not only on nationalities and age, but also on political views and even outlook in general.

Google has a number of potentialities on deformation of certain political and social norms at any user of the platform as the company management solely makes the decision on the contents and frequency of demonstration of content. Often, at the same time even the national legislation can be ignored.

Because of different factors, such as illusion of the truth and choice, the selection perception and also artificial imposing of certain values, people it is ready to trust practically any information which he saw on the Internet if only it was not from one source. I.e. in order that the person ceased to doubt something, it is enough to show only with a certain frequency necessary content from several authors, it is desirable more or less known, with the minimum changes. Knowing possibilities of YouTube, it is possible. Thus, the person will tend to trust more the imposed information even if it will directly contradict statements of authorities.

Follows from the aforesaid that any user of a video hosting is potentially ready to study information which contradicts the settled beliefs. A question only in giving. In the second half of the 2010th years of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other platforms seriously criticize for the fact that they help with distribution of misinformation, fakes, conspiracy theories and other virus information which inherently easily extends on social networks.

At the same time the companies do not hesitate to apply double standards in everyday life at all, extending and advancing one content, and blocking another. So, Facebook banned recently hundreds of accounts of staff of the Sputnik agency who were engaged in covering of events in the Baltic States and Eastern Europe. Similar actions are taken by Twitter, deleting accounts which publish the theses contradicting the interests of the Big Brother.

And here when the majority of "objectionable" content is cleaned, the patented algorithms of dissemination of the "necessary" information come into effect. YouTube (read Google) recommends doubtful content even if users obviously do not express interest in it. For example, at the beginning of 2019 without any visible reasons for millions of users the terrorist attack video was recommended on September 11, 2001. And videos about mass demonstrations and protests began to be offered residents of Venezuela for deepening of political split in the country that is directly directed to pushing of already biased audience to more radical points of view.

Researches show what really algorithms of YouTube systematically recommends to the person more and more extreme videos for a topic by which it was interested earlier. Thus, YouTube turned into one of the most powerful tools for radicalization of society in the XXI century, many foreign observers are sure.

The modern media situation allows to advance this most doubtful content extremely effectively. It is rather simple to show more often in recommended video clips about mass demonstrations that the person began to think of need of changes for his life. It is enough to pay rotation of content with any celebrity that through some time this celebrity could bring together thousands of supporters and stand to the highest positions in the state. Only it is necessary to take one pseudo-expert, to give him initially prepared text, to untwist this video among millions of users, and he will be called the leading analyst and the specialist in the sounded question on which opinion people will rely. Banal psychology and manipulation with consciousness.

Sergey Nikonorov

Editorial opinion of TAdviser can not always match opinion of the author.