Watch My Feed for It Won't Watch Itself

    I was late getting into the online video craze, such as it is.  In fact, I have only starting watching certain channels on a regular basis this year.  It all started on Facebook a few years ago when I accidentally his the "Watch" icon instead of one of the other ones.  They way the order can change, randomly and then back, can be confounding.  Anyway, since I was there, I decided to see what was available.  At first, there was a seemingly random mix of almost anything.  Then, I discovered this comedian who was doing sketches instead of touring due to the 2020 lockdowns.  I began to look for his new episodes whenever they came up.  Sometimes, older videos popped up instead of new ones.  I ultimately began to follow him, because I sort of liked his material. He uploads one new episode per week, on average, although he has taken breaks, or put up a bonus episode.  Mostly, the sketches are topical takes with him personifying the various states in the USA or the Federal government.  At other times, he goes on deeper dive into a state to bring up such things as the names of various cities or their unusual laws.  Over time, my feed began to pick up more comedy bits, mixed in with the household hacks, video game replays, and bunny videos. BUHHNIES!!!!  Sometimes, I would get TED talks on mathematical challenges or logic puzzles. Astrological discussions would pop up regularly.  Lately, though, comedy dominates, with the gaming videos second, particularly one where various armed figures would battle it out while jerkily trying not to get knocked out.  One of the comedy bits involved a bunch of people being forced to try foods that might not be technically good.  I first thought that they were based outside of the US, like some of the English lessons, but I was proven wrong.  They were a comedy troupe from LA, some of whom were former child stars.  Soon, other videos of theirs began to show up.  Improv challenges, written sketches, or other games that weren't food related.  Hidden among those videos was one were these two men would discuss various topics.  After a few videos, between the comic book comparison lists and historical lessons (and the occasional health chats on topics outside the listing for this blog), I noticed that these two men showed up a few times with the comedy troupe.  Slowly, their other videos began to pop up.  They would do taste tests on various food products, play games based on where foods originated, redo recipes based on entirely different ingredients, and even have a few non-food based things.  Well, this past January, I finally caught their YouTube channel.  And I was obsessed.  I started watching the original clips on the day they came out, instead of the abbreviated versions I had been watching.  For example, this Monday's episode featured the men trying to figure out which price-point of certain foods, a recurring segment this time featuring their producer's favorites.  Whenever either one chose the highest price version, they would have to dance with a person in a cow costume.  For the last few times this segment aired, assassination attempts were made on the cow.  This time, the attempt was successful, as sticks of dynamite were attached to the cow's back and 'blew' up.  Bits of cow costume were everywhere, including part of an utter in the food they were tasting.  While most of the bits were later cleared out, some were still seen in the background.  For the version shown on Facebook the next day, which was only a quarter of so long, the cow's demise wasn't shown, but the costume bits were still seen in the background.  The original was funnier.  Through research, I found out the these guys' production company bought out the comedy troupe's a few years ago when the comedy channel was in danger of folding.  Now, they are part of the same family, and I kind of feel that I missed out for so many years.  Instead of watching clips of anime in the original Japanese or people laughing at other's mistakes/jump-scares, I could have been seeing more of this.  These two channels are now dominating my feed, and I can't help to wonder about how well their algorithms know me.  I already make sure I don't go to some websites before logging into Facebook or other sites.  The cookies start loading things that I sometimes don't think match with me.  Now, I just need to get some ideas on how to improve my own online media.  I'm beginning to think I have found a true calling here.