Chapter 26 Quiz: YouTube's Recommendation Engine and the Radicalization Pipeline

22 multiple-choice questions. Select the best answer for each.

Question 1 YouTube was acquired by Google in what year, and for approximately how much?

A) 2004, $500 million in cash B) 2006, $1.65 billion in stock C) 2008, $3 billion in stock and cash D) 2005, $750 million in cash

Question 2 As of the mid-2020s, approximately how many hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute?

A) 50 hours B) 100 hours C) 500 hours D) 1,000 hours

Question 3 YouTube's original recommendation system was primarily optimized for:

A) User satisfaction ratings B) Subscriber growth for content creators C) Clicks on recommended videos D) Average video completion rate

Question 4 In 2012, YouTube shifted its primary recommendation metric to:

A) User satisfaction surveys B) Watch time (how long users watched recommended videos) C) Social shares and comments D) Return visit rate (whether users came back the next day)

Question 5 The "rabbit hole" effect in YouTube's recommendation system refers to:

A) Young children discovering adult content through search B) A series of recommendations that gradually lead users toward more emotionally intense or extreme content C) The experience of losing track of time while watching YouTube D) The discovery of obscure, niche content through recommendation chains

Question 6 Guillaume Chaslot's background before becoming a prominent YouTube critic was:

A) A content creator who built a large YouTube following before being demonetized B) A software engineer at YouTube who worked on the recommendation algorithm C) An academic researcher who studied YouTube's effects without ever working for the company D) A journalist who investigated platform companies for a major newspaper

Question 7 After leaving YouTube, Chaslot founded:

A) The Center for Humane Technology B) AlgoTransparency C) The Algorithmic Justice League D) The Platform Accountability Project

Question 8 The Ribeiro et al. (2019) study mapped YouTube's recommendation network and found:

A) No evidence of connections between mainstream and extremist content B) Evidence of radicalization pathways leading from mainstream political content toward more extreme content C) That YouTube's 2019 policy changes had eliminated radicalization pathways D) That self-selection, not algorithmic guidance, explained all observed patterns of extreme content consumption

Question 9 Which of the following is a legitimate methodological criticism of the Ribeiro et al. (2019) study?

A) The researchers used video content as data rather than user survey responses B) The study followed recommendation chains systematically, which may not reflect actual user behavior C) The study focused exclusively on political content, ignoring entertainment and children's content D) The researchers failed to distinguish between YouTube's main platform and YouTube Kids

Question 10 YouTube's concept of "borderline content," introduced in its 2019 policy changes, refers to:

A) Content that appears on the boundary between YouTube's main platform and YouTube Kids B) Content from creators based outside the United States who may not understand US content guidelines C) Content that does not violate Community Guidelines but that the platform believes is close to doing so or objectionable if recommended D) Content that is restricted to users who have verified their age

Question 11 The "creator incentive problem" described in the chapter refers to:

A) Difficulty recruiting quality content creators due to YouTube's revenue sharing rates B) The fact that creator revenue is tied to watch time and engagement, which rewards emotionally intense or extreme content C) Competition between creators for limited advertising inventory D) Legal uncertainty about copyright ownership of creator content

Question 12 YouTube Kids was launched in:

A) 2012 B) 2015 C) 2017 D) 2019

Question 13 "Elsagate" refers to:

A) A controversy about YouTube executives accessing children's personal data B) A large body of superficially child-appropriate content containing disturbing material that proliferated on YouTube and YouTube Kids C) A campaign by parents to pressure YouTube to remove adult content from search results D) YouTube's failure to remove content that depicted violence against children

Question 14 The Elsagate scandal was made possible primarily because:

A) YouTube's human moderation team had been reduced through budget cuts B) YouTube's automated content filtering systems could not adequately distinguish authentic children's content from content optimized to appear authentic to automated systems C) Content creators had discovered a legal loophole in YouTube's terms of service D) YouTube had deliberately lowered content standards for children's content to attract more viewers

Question 15 YouTube's 2019 FTC settlement under COPPA involved a penalty of approximately:

A) $25 million B) $50 million C) $170 million D) $500 million

Question 16 COPPA stands for:

A) Children's Online Privacy Protection Act B) Content Operations and Platform Protection Act C) Children's Online Platform Protection Authorities D) Consumer Online Privacy and Protection Act

Question 17 The chapter describes an "extremism premium" in YouTube's creator economy. This refers to:

A) Extra advertising rates charged to political content creators B) YouTube's policy of promoting diverse viewpoints including extreme ones C) The economic advantage extreme content creators have because they combine high engagement with less competition in their niche D) Bonus payments YouTube provides to creators who reach extreme watch-time milestones

Question 18 The chapter argues that YouTube's shift to longform content and podcast-style programming has consequences for radicalization dynamics. Which of the following best describes this argument?

A) Longform content is less emotionally engaging than short content and therefore reduces radicalization effects B) Longform political content allows for sustained persuasion efforts over time, building loyalty and delivering extended argument sequences that short content cannot C) Longform content is harder to monetize, reducing the economic incentive for extreme content creators D) Podcast-style content is produced primarily by mainstream media organizations and therefore counteracts extremism

Question 19 YouTube processes more search queries than which of the following?

A) Google.com B) Amazon.com C) Bing and Yahoo combined D) All other search engines combined

Question 20 The chapter's discussion of the self-selection versus algorithmic guidance debate concludes that:

A) Self-selection entirely explains the patterns of extreme content consumption observed on YouTube B) Algorithmic guidance entirely explains the patterns, with self-selection playing no role C) The distinction is impossible to make empirically and should be abandoned as a research question D) Both factors are likely operating, with the algorithm amplifying users' exposure to extreme content beyond what they would independently seek

Question 21 Maya's experience of starting with a music tutorial and ending with extreme political commentary illustrates which of the following dynamics?

A) Deliberate political radicalization through targeted advertising B) The cumulative drift effect of following recommendation chains, where each individual step seems plausible but the cumulative trajectory is significant C) The Elsagate phenomenon applied to political content rather than children's content D) Self-selection: Maya demonstrated pre-existing political interests through her search behavior

Question 22 Dr. Aisha Johnson's position in the Velocity Media debate is that recommendation systems bear epistemic responsibility. This means:

A) Platforms should be required to publish the full code of their recommendation algorithms B) When a platform controls what information users encounter, it bears some responsibility for the beliefs that result C) Users have an obligation to verify information they encounter through algorithmic recommendation D) Platforms should prioritize educational content in their recommendation systems

Answer Key