Google’s video platform, YouTube, will add a new functionality that will choose a randomly chosen video, with the only parameter being your preferences.
The experimental feature will be called Play Something and can be found in the YouTube Shorts section. Despite its location, the function is not limited to offering you this category of videos, but will explore the platform’s entire catalog to serve you a video that probably fits your tastes.
This new addition is reminiscent of a functionality previously offered by the Netflix streaming platform, which even had the same name initially and which tried to fulfill a similar function, only with movies instead of videos. The feature, later renamed Surprise Me, was removed two years later, due to low user usage.
This feature could be a solution for those who often find themselves undecided about which video to watch next. By analyzing your viewing patterns and preferences, the platform will try to offer you content that may be of interest to you, thus improving the user experience and encouraging the discovery of new content and creators.
Play Something could also serve as a useful tool for those times when users don’t have time to actively search for something to watch, but still want to enjoy content they like. Viewed from this perspective, the functionality appears to be just an extension of the main page, which already serves a similar purpose by recommending extensive lists of content based on your history.
It remains to be seen if the feature will be well received by the YouTube community or if it will suffer the same fate as its predecessor on Netflix.
Via: 9to5Google
