Comment by dmnissley on The best frequently don't rise to the top · 2021-03-25T20:05:52.282Z · LW · GW

I think you're underweighting production quality (false consensus bias?). Just as an example, my girlfriend is big into youtube, but she only watches high production channels, and will quickly skip past anything that looks like it's been shot on a phone. She'll also basically refuse to watch any movie or show that was shot before about the year 2000 for similar reasons.

Another big factor is personality of the creators. She likes to watch channels where she feels some connection to the creators. They're usually a couple of people or more where there is entertaining and comedic banter that's always going on besides whatever subject the actual video is about. It's chiefly entertainment for her, with any educational content just being a bonus.

I would posit that most people who watch youtube have preferences closer to hers than to yours, although my own are probably closer to yours.

Here's an example of the kind of video I'm talking about: