Uploaded April 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
I've been wondering for a while what to do with the last video, I've thought about it, talked with friends, talked with Philipp, and here are my thoughts.
this video in a nutshell: mea culpa
Music:
Proxy Wars - Andrew Bird
Pop Sci is coming soon.
I've been wondering for a while what to do with the last video, I've thought about it, talked with friends, talked with Philipp, and here are my thoughts.
this video in a nutshell: mea culpa
Music:
Proxy Wars - Andrew Bird
Pop Sci is coming soon.


![What 40,000 Videos Tell Us About The Trending Tab
Is the trending tab rigged against creators? Is late night dominating the charts? Why does it feel your favorite controversial creator never trends. All of that and more, in the first ever data-driven look at the trending tab.
To see the nuts and bolts of this video, a more in-depth explanation of what I did, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEvtpj-uChA
Support is greatly appreciated:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Coffee_Break
Follow:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/coffeebreak_YT
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoffeeBreak42/
Reddits: https://reddit.com/r/coffeebreak
Discord: https://discord.gg/EAbgdg7
Music:
Marc Rebillet [dude is a musical genius]
https://www.youtube.com/user/marcrebillet
Letskey
https://soundcloud.com/letskey
Shownotes:
Mitchell Jollys Website
https://mitchelljolly.com/
Original Dataset collected by Mitchell
https://www.kaggle.com/datasnaek/youtube-new/kernels
Classification was done by myself and over 70 others who contributed to crowdsourcing our data for the US Dataset.
To see more about how I made this video, a more in-depth explanation of what I did, go here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEvtpj-uChA
Want to know about other work thats being done at looking at the output of these impossibly complicated algorithms?
https://algotransparency.org/
Ever want a look at what trending would be like without the bias? Check out Rian Hunters work on Fair Trending!!!!
https://www.fairtrending.com/?lang=en
A brilliant video from Derek of Veritasium about how to think about trending videos: My Video Went Viral. Heres Why | It was a huge Today I found out moment and he even helped me with this videos thumbnail!!! Go give him some love, not that he needs it after his Why Are 96,000,000 Black Balls on This Reservoir? video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHsa9DqmId8
Featured in Pewdiepie ‘s video KSI is cancelled
See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SSrvjDaVFA&lc=UgxuiNyOaycvT6KXs0F4AaABAg What 40,000 Videos Tell Us About The Trending Tab](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fDqBeXJ8Zx8/mqdefault.jpg)




![How To Start A Pyramid Scheme
First 500 people to go to https://skl.sh/coffeebreak get 2 months FREE.
The Six Steps To Creating a Legal Pyramid Scheme
1. Find a Product
2. Make a payout structure
3. Sell a Financial Fantasy
4. The Three Key Groups
5. The Training, Attempt, Failure, Event Loop
6. Cut Off The Bad Apples
FOLLOWUP VIDEO: visualizing the real odds of multi level marketing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoWiNx0gqto
Follow:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/coffeebreak_YT
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/CoffeeBreak/
Discord: https://discord.gg/EAbgdg7
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoffeeBreak42/
Support:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Coffee_Break
Music:
Lewis OfMan - Yes
https://soundcloud.com/lewis-ofman/yes
Edo Lee - Black Coffee
https://soundcloud.com/edo_lee/black-coffee
ibrahim - enamored (w/Limes)
https://soundcloud.com/ibr/enamored
Seneca B - New York
https://soundcloud.com/senecabeats/new-york
Soirée - Flight
https://soundcloud.com/soireebeats/flight
Aesthesys
https://soundcloud.com/aesthesys/grauer-wald?in=aesthesys/sets/achromata
Shownotes:
[1] Hispanics being targeted: This is a well-documented strategy among MLMs/pyramid-shaped schemes. See companies like Herbalife.
https://wearemitu.com/mitu-world/john-oliver-fires-shots-at-pyramid-schemes-that-target-latinos/
[1.1] If you’re interested in more of the specifics on this exploitation, I highly recommend BETTING ON ZERO. Catch it here if you have Netflix. https://www.netflix.com/title/80108609
[2] Survivorship Bias is the well-known fallacy that if you find yourself successful, you may falsely start believing that anyone can be equally successful, neglecting everyone who tried just as hard and didnt achieve the same things. This runs RAMPANT in pyramid selling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias
[3] Only 3/1000 make any money in pyramid schemes after the costs of doing business are added in. Based on analyzing 350 MLMs.
See Dr. Jon Taylors brilliant work here:
https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/public_comments/trade-regulation-rule-disclosure-requirements-and-prohibitions-concerning-business-opportunities-ftc.r511993-00017%C2%A0/00017-57317.pdf
[4] Regulatory Capture
Something that didnt make it into the video explicitly but is worth mentioning. If you find yourself scratching your head, HOW ARE THESE THINGS STILL LEGAL?!, you should look no further than our lovely Federal Trade Commission who has been lobbied to for years and has kept never seriously acted on pyramid schemes except to slap them on the wrist. MLMs own an impressive amount of political power, EX: Amway has DIRECT ties to three (bush sr, clinton, bush jr) of the last 5 sitting presidents.
https://www.theverge.com/2014/4/8/5590550/alleged-pyramid-schemes-lobbying-ftc
More About MLMs
The Dream Podcast - https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/stitcher/the-dream
Dr. Jon Taylor – The Case (for and) Against Multi-level Marketing
https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/public_comments/trade-regulation-rule-disclosure-requirements-and-prohibitions-concerning-business-opportunities-ftc.r511993-00017%C2%A0/00017-57317.pdf
Robert Fitzpatrick – False Profits: Seeking Financial and Spiritual Deliverance in Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Schemes
https://www.amazon.com/gp/search?index=books&linkCode=qs&keywords=9780964879515
https://pyramidschemealert.org/about-2/board-of-directors/robert-fitzpatrick/
Christine Richard - https://orionresearch.net/
Christine on QuoththeRaven
https://quoththeraven.podbean.com/e/quoth-the-raven-79-christine-richard-goes-in-deep-on-her-herbalife-research-part-2/
Q&A:
Are you actually talking about MLMs the entire time?
Yes. MLMs and product-driven pyramid schemes are basically a distinction without a difference. And the word multi-level marketing is a bit misleading which is why I avoided it. Its using terminology that was invented to obfuscate what is actually going on. The old word for MLMs was pyramid selling. You can imagine why that was abandoned. Even now, the word multilevel marketing is being distanced from, the new new word is direct selling. Look at the lobbying group Direct Selling Association who is heavily funded by MLMs. I couldnt find the words Multi-Level Marketing anywhere on the website. All this to say, dont let other people control the language of the discussion, otherwise youve lost half the battle. See my previous video on Industry Funded Research, where the gambling lobbying group calls themselves the National Center of Responsible GAMING. Its the same trick being played.
https://www.dsa.org/
Why does the video get so dark?
MLMs have an extremely predatory side to them that I wanted to explore. If you got upset or frustrated in this video, that is probably indicative that you having a working heart. How To Start A Pyramid Scheme](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mBsFxHa2eKw/mqdefault.jpg)


