A search bot shows you random videos on YouTube that hardly anyone knows about
Shared on YouTube and then forgotten: This apparently happens to millions of people. Anyone who uploads their video to YouTube usually makes it public. And you can watch such videos.
Watching strangers in everyday situations somehow feels forbidden. But what if these people voluntarily publish the videos and then forget about them? There are millions of cases like this on YouTube. They are just not known because the algorithm categorises the clips as irrelevant and therefore does not display them.
On the website walzr.com there is a bot that randomly shows you such unknown videos. There are said to be five million of them.
How does the search bot work?
Nowadays, most clips are carefully produced for the respective target groups. But the three YouTube founders had something else in mind in 2005: anyone and everyone should be able to simply share their "home videos" on YouTube.
Many apps offer a "Share" function that allows you to upload videos to YouTube with just a few clicks. If you do not rename the video, it will keep its original name, for example IMG_1234. IMG in combination with a four-digit number is the standard name for recordings in many photo apps. You can try this out for yourself and search for it.
The bot from programmer Riley Walz does exactly that: It searches for random IMG number combinations and shows you one of the results along with the upload date and view count. There's a good chance that you'll find videos that hardly anyone but the creators have seen. Many of them are over ten years old. You'll find concerts, sporting events, clips showing your beloved car breaking 100,000 miles and, of course, videos with children and pets.
These moments seemed significant enough for the person to activate the camera for them and then upload the recording to YouTube - but without changing the name. Many people may also have forgotten or not even realised that they had published their video.
The clips provide insights into the lives and everyday lives of strangers. This makes them authentic and they bring back memories of similar moments in their own lives.
2009 is when it really started
The number of such "home videos" exploded in 2009: Apple launched the iPhone 3GS, the first iPhone that could record videos as well as photos - in 480p at 30 frames per second. The smartphone sold according to Apple more than one million units within the first three days.
Also on the device: the "Share on YouTube" function integrated into the photo app. This made it possible to publish the recorded videos on YouTube with just a few clicks. The function was removed with iOS 6 in 2012. But until then, millions of people uploaded their "home videos".
Feels just as comfortable in front of a gaming PC as she does in a hammock in the garden. Likes the Roman Empire, container ships and science fiction books. Focuses mostly on unearthing news stories about IT and smart products.