Starting today, Nebula viewers can choose to “show less from this channel” on the Featured page. This will do what you’d expect: you’ll see fewer videos from that specific channel. Specifically, in the “latest videos” and algorithmically-generated rails. This option will not remove that channel from human-curated sections of Nebula.
This might be the most-requested Nebula feature, and one that we’ve wrestled with at a conceptual level since the very beginning; it feels strange to add an entire button to specifically tell us what you don’t like.
I’ve always thought of Nebula as a kind of museum. A container filled with the works of a curated collection of creators. Nobody goes into a museum expecting to like every piece of art in every exhibit. (Nor does anyone expect to be handed a Sharpie to write on the walls, but that’s a separate rant.) Surely we’re all capable of focusing on the parts that interest us.
The trouble is that, as Nebula grows, the rate at which new ‘exhibits’ come into view speeds up exponentially. On an anyone-can-post-here social media video site, the solution for discovery is to lean on algorithms. A bleak dystopia where robots curate the museums.
We’ve dipped our toes into those waters, but our algorithm is very simple: 80% stuff you haven’t seen from channels you follow, 20% stuff you haven’t seen from channels you don’t follow. This works well when our focus is narrow. As we broaden the range of what Nebula is, we’ll certainly expand beyond the tastes of any one individual. While we’re confident that our creators are all great and all of their work is great, the simple truth is that nobody should be expected to like all of it.
Sticking with the theme of art metaphors, I think of the creative process as either painting or sculpting. For painters, they can imagine something clearly in their minds and begin to add colors to the canvas. That’s how they create. For sculptors — and I know I definitely fit into this group — they start with lumps of clay or blocks of stone and remove the parts they don’t need. Additive versus subtractive processes. Both in the spirit of creation.
Maybe “show less” isn’t about negativity. Maybe it’s about subtraction. Maybe by giving you the tools you need to remove the parts you don’t, we’re trusting you to help us create the best experience for you. Collaborative curation.
This is a nice way of looking at our relationship with our viewers, and one that should inform our decision-making in the future, both in terms of the creators and Originals we add to the lineup, and to the features we add to the streaming platform over time.
While everyone else turns to robots, Nebula should be powered by humans.
