How to Hide Related YouTube Videos
Every time you watch a video, YouTube shows you a dozen more in the sidebar, most of which are weirder and worse than what you are watching. They’re disgusting and distracting, they can lead kids to inappropriate videos , and they tend to get more extreme the more you press, according to a Wall Street Journal test . Here’s how to hide them.
In Chrome, install the YouTube distraction extension. Now, from any page, you can easily disable the featured videos sidebar without even reloading it.
Or for more powerful customization in Chrome, Firefox or Opera, install Magic Actions for YouTube . On the options page, select the Hide Page Items check box and then Linked Videos. Magic Actions also lets you hide comments, automatically expand videos to full width, and more.
Every time we write about hiding content, we are scolded for creating “echo chambers”. In this case, it would be incredibly ironic: YouTube’s recommendations create echo chambers by pushing people towards extreme views that reject or ignore critical thinking. “It seems like you will never be hardcore enough for YouTube’s recommendation algorithm,” Zeynep Toufekci writes in the Times . “He promotes, recommends and distributes videos in a way that keeps the stakes up.”
Of course, sometimes you want to go down the rabbit hole. If it were not for the recommended videos, I would never have found this video: “PARTNER, BUT VOTED ON THE TOPIC OF JURASSIA PARK”.
To re-enable entries, simply toggle the appropriate option in your extension and they will return immediately.
If you like the featured videos but feel they don’t suit your taste, you can clear your browsing history .