So, take two. Incognito window again. No recommended videos. So I just scrolled down and clicked on the weirdest thing I saw. I scrolled down to the very bottom of the page, nothing striking me as that alarmingly strange, and finally clicked the video at the very bottom of the screen: YouTubers React To Ariana Grande - thank u, next (Music Video and Easter Eggs) (yes, that's the whole title).
There is no sidebar yet, it's the first video, but let's check the recommended videos now.
Now we have a recommended videos section. Let's take the cruise ship.
Still no sidebar, so back we go. Let's watch the death wish video.
No sidebar, but what's changed? I see an Area 51 video. Let's watch it. I count that as zero to conspiracy theory in three, but, if National Geographic doesn't count, let's go back and look at recommended videos now.
Or wait, maybe not--the group of thumbnails at the end of the video is now showing, and how about that? The mystery beneath the Baltic Sea on the far upper left, and a UFO conspiracy theory video on the far lower left (I forgot to capture either, but they were there). Let's click that.
And I'm at conspiracy theories in four. So Markiplier may be right, YouTube algorithms seem predisposed to feed new users of the site, without accounts, conspiracy theories and absolute insanity within four (my end point) to six (his) videos. That's awfully fast, I'd say, because the bulk of YouTube content is not fringe insanity, at all.
More study may be required, but I for one am satisfied with my results, and a tad perturbed about YouTube's algorithm process.
(And just for comparison, this is what I see when I'm logged into my account. A random mix of drama channels, skeptic channels, D and D information, Philip DeFranco, and horror games. When I don't see something like that, I see creepy narration videos, Night Mind, Scare Theater or Nexpo content, or full-length Critical Role sessions. So I'm already living in the weird part of YouTube as it is.)
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