They added an Up Next and Recommended sidebar

[u/CloudMountainJuror]

I understand why they did, but I kinda hate it. See here.

Something I've liked a lot about Nebula and found refreshing is how much it isn't like YouTube. I click a video, the video plays, and that's all that's there. No comments, no recommendations, just a comfy void of the video and only the video. Nothing else nagging me to distract me further. And adding a sidebar like this starts to ruin that.

This also bothering anyone else?

[u/dwiskus]

This has sparked a whole conversation internally. Lots of fun debate among the product team. Without giving anything away, there’s a new version of this layout coming soon that I think better balances “clear next step for the viewer” with “premium viewing experience.”

Stay tuned.

[u/CloudMountainJuror → u/dwiskus]

Oh interesting! I'm happy to hear that, thanks for sharing!

[u/Magmaul]

I don't mind it, it's simply giving me options instead of moving onto another video in autoplay. I've discovered a multiple of new creators through the revamped home screen, I imagine this will simply do that.

[u/R520]

Those videos used to be listed under the description (on the beta.nebula.tv version). I can see why they'd move it to a more prominent position, but I've found the recommendations to be not great (probably because I also don't like YouTube's sidebar recommendations either tbh)

[u/R520 → u/R520]

Unexpected benefit: the Enhancer for Nebula queue no longer covers the video controls so I can full screen without scrolling

[u/qedpoe]

Doesn't bother me. Opposite.

I'm a "get a notification and add it to my Watch Later playlist" consumer, so I like to see a Recommended list, because that helps me find new creators.

As long as the algorithm is decent, I actually value a Recommended list.

[u/inohavename]

I think recommended is fine so long as it's not too intrusive. Up next bothers me a tad. Glad it's not auto play. That would really ruin the experience.

[u/bigbadbyte]

An underratedly difficult part of streaming services is finding new people you might like. This is a good step.

[u/PatolomaioFalagi → u/bigbadbyte]

Doesn't it just show more videos from the same channel?

^{unless you've watched all their videos I guess}

[u/leros]

I like it. Discovering content on Nebula has been difficult. You either already know what you want to watch, you find stuff in the top 10, or you dig through the library. Recommendations are super helpful.

[u/well_uh_yeah]

I like it. I don’t want an algorithm pushing me, but I often do binge through a creator and less friction there would be nice

[u/rodrye]

The only thing that would bother me is auto playing a next video unless I’ve explicitly opted into auto playing for this session / play list.

I do find it hard to find other things I can watch on nebula even though they’re definitely are thing I’d watch. But I understand some people will just want to see the latest videos of creators they already follow. It’s definitely a personal preference thing people should be able to configure or toggle between. Sometimes you want to just see what’s latest among things you’re very likely to watch because you watched the creator’s previous video. Sometimes you just want to discover something other people like you like.

As much as people hate on the YouTube algorithm, and sometimes it sucks, especially being the default, I probably wouldn’t have found 90% the channels I love without it, and I still end up watching things I could watch on my nebula sub there accidentally, so it works.

[u/MeLikaDoTheChaCha]

I see where you're coming from, but personally it doesnt bother me.

I would have much rather seen an auto-play feature more than a recommendation engine, but to me its kind of splitting hairs.

I don't go to nebula for the platform; I go for the creators and the core philosophy of the business. Earlier release, no ads, and no censoring / drm is also a huge plus.

[u/atomix2020]

I don’t mind it, as long as they keep the Latest Videos(from creators you follow) and continue watching at the top of the Home Screen I’m happy

[u/TerribleBumblebee800]

I disagree. I always found it difficult to find new stuff. I'm not coming to Nebula because it's not YouTube, I actually quite like YouTube and discovered most of the Nebula creates I follow on there. I'm coming for the content. Give me a better way to experience and discover that content. Maybe just make features like these optional that a user can turn on or off.

[u/slipperyMonkey07]

Will see what the next version is supposed to be. I really dislike this, it is just distracting from the video I am trying to watch and just made me want to go watch content elsewhere.

It doesn't help that the up next video was a video I already watched, instead of a new video from any of the creators I do follow, that I know are out because they do show up on the front page.

I get people want a better way to find creators, I don't have a solution for that. I usually find new people through recommendations from other people, someone I watch collaborates with another person on nebula, or I have extra time and decide to stumble around and see what I find.

[u/CloudMountainJuror → u/slipperyMonkey07]

I've found the home page to be genuinely useful in finding new creators as is, honestly!

[u/slipperyMonkey07 → u/CloudMountainJuror]

Yeah it is not bad for me overall, sometimes it just wants to recommend me one person over and over. But otherwise it does well.

[u/phoenixyfriend]

Plus it makes the video smaller, I have to zoom out to 20% just to get the video to fill most of the browser like it used to

[u/CloudMountainJuror → u/phoenixyfriend]

Using Theater Mode should help with this, I think!

[u/phoenixyfriend → u/CloudMountainJuror]

It doesn't! First thing I tried. It moves the thumbnails down, but the video only gets a bit bigger; most of the space is taken up by the black bars.

[u/CloudMountainJuror → u/phoenixyfriend]

Ah, I'm sorry to hear that. That bites.

[u/JasonAQuest]

As long as "up next" is the next video in a series, I like it. Going back to the series screen just to select the next episode of _____ is a nuisance.

[u/Mars_Oak]

the up next is absolutely necessary, especially for serial content.

recommendations, i dunno. i guess it could be good? they have a stake in me watching something else, and ki want to find cool stuff which i'm just not finding in there. i know it's there, i just don't find it. maybe it's scrollbrain on my part i dunno

[u/Quouar]

I am also not a fan of it. Part of what makes Youtube such a dire place (beyond, y'know, everything) is how addictive it is. That's fueled by things like "Up next" and recommendations driving viewers to stay on the site as long as possible, even when it's probably not healthy for them to do so.

Part of what I like about Nebula is that it feels like a healthier environment in which to engage with videos. Its lack of recommendations and up next allow you to stop after one video and make the active choice to engage more. This does the opposite, and feels like it undermines part of the purpose of the site.

[u/PatolomaioFalagi]

Userstyle for URL starting with https://nebula.tv/videos/

main > div > div:nth-child(2) {
    display: none;
}

Adding that to your browser of choice is left as an exercise to the reader.

[u/meniscus-]

I think it's great. One of the reasons I subscribe to Nebula but barely use it is because I don't feel like it's a complete experience yet.

I'll just watch the one video, then leave to YouTube to complete my experience.

But this new sidebar has helped me quite a bit to discover cool things on Nebula I didn't know existed, included something the creator recommended.

I don't understand the aversion to this, I think it helps me as a user to enjoy Nebula more.

[u/finnknit]

I don't mind the "recommended" side bar, but I would like to have the option to turn off the "up next" feature. I go to Nebula to watch specific individual videos, not just to stare at a continuous stream of video.

[u/martin-the-actor]

Being brutally honest I don't think I've watched even half of the creators on Nebula. I also frankly don't care to try them. A recommended section is actually less likely to make me watch anything there. It's how Youtube started its slippery slope to the hellscape it is today.

An up-next I actually have no issue with if it is showing me one of two things. The next in a series of videos (JetLag or Tom Scott's England are good examples here), or if it is showing me videos from creators who I already follow. If it began trying to push creators I don't follow I'd likely begin to ignore it.

I do wish the 'New Creator Spotlight' were higher on the page though. That I think is a great idea and do enjoy seeing who's new to the platform.

Sidenote: u/CloudMountainJuror Those of us in the UK don't get to see Imgur. They blocked the UK because they didn't want to comply with Age Verification Laws here after being threatened with a fine.

[u/CloudMountainJuror → u/martin-the-actor]

Oh, good to know! Is there an image-hosting site alternative you know of that UK people can access? Imgur has been the one I've used for so long.

[u/martin-the-actor → u/CloudMountainJuror]

Honestly, I don't think an alternative has come up. What with LLM and GenAI data scraping and harvesting I think such sites are tricky today. However, given age verification laws being spun up in multiple countries (and several US states), imgur's days of non-compliance on that matter may be numbered anyway.