I worked out that you can screw with other peoples' recommendations over on Discord, and even here on links. They don't have to view the video, just the preview loading is enough to tie it to their IP.

*evil laughter*
( Dave Trouser ; the people's choice - 75% agree, Wed 27 Nov 2024, 20:34, archived)

My system of disengagement seems to shield me from the worst of that.
I think the conversational/argumentative engagement metric is weighted heavier than seeing thumbnails on 3rd party forums. That seems to be the case across all social media.

I occasionally see super-low view-count shite in my recommendations that I reckon must be linked to b3ta weirdos, but most of my feed is vintage combat sports, sumo, big band renditions of Zappa, obscure acid, long instructional videos for musical instruments that I don't own, aquatic mammals, late night comedy monologues, spaaaaaaaaaaace, (a podcast about) engineering (disasters, with slides), 'legacy' news channels, and shitloads of pirated media.
( brb Learn Ukrainian and prepare for a referendum, Wed 27 Nov 2024, 21:10, archived)