A look at YouTube's “coolhunters” who were tasked with finding and promoting talented YouTubers in the company's early years, before the algorithms took over
like videos of quirky ukulele players—on blogs. Rob Zombie and Wes Craven guest-curated on Halloween. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... @theatlantic : Today, YouTube is known for its hyper-targeted algorithm. But in its early years, a small team of editors, dubbed “coolhunters,” curated some of the video platform's greatest hits, writes @mhbergen. https://on.theatln.tc/2q7bQst Matteo Wong / @matteo_wong : Very insightful piece into a little known bit of YouTube history: the small curatorial team, called “coolhunters,” that crowned many of the site's early hits—until they were replaced by algorithms https://twitter.com/... @dlberes : “Eventually, though, Google's sensibilities started to trickle in. ‘The Google way of solving problems is to throw machines at them, not people,’ recalls Andy Stack, a former YouTube manager.” Mark Bergen / @mhbergen : It's also a telling story about what YouTube *could have* become if it kept thoughtful people at the frontlines of the site. “The Google way of solving problems is to throw machines at them, not people”
Back in the day, real, human people populated YouTube's homepage with content. They “hunted” the good stuff—like videos of quirky ukulele players—on blogs. Rob Zombie and Wes Craven guest-curated on Halloween. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...
Today, YouTube is known for its hyper-targeted algorithm. But in its early years, a small team of editors, dubbed “coolhunters,” curated some of the video platform's greatest hits, writes @mhbergen. https://on.theatln.tc/2q7bQst
Very pleased to publish a new excerpt from my book in @TheAtlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... Creators are the heart of YouTube. Here's the story of the soul of YouTube, and how it got snuffed out.
Very insightful piece into a little known bit of YouTube history: the small curatorial team, called “coolhunters,” that crowned many of the site's early hits—until they were replaced by algorithms https://twitter.com/...
“Eventually, though, Google's sensibilities started to trickle in. ‘The Google way of solving problems is to throw machines at them, not people,’ recalls Andy Stack, a former YouTube manager.”
It's also a telling story about what YouTube *could have* become if it kept thoughtful people at the frontlines of the site. “The Google way of solving problems is to throw machines at them, not people”