Why it’s OK to watch cat videos

In an op-ed last year about political radicalization, techno-sociologist Zeynep Tufekci noted how, when you watch enough YouTube videos on a topic, the platform has this weird way of taking things to an extreme.

“Videos about vegetarianism led to videos about veganism,” she wrote. “Videos about jogging led to videos about running ultramarathons. It seems as if you are never ‘hard core’ enough for YouTube’s recommendation algorithm.”

So what does the algorithm do when you binge on one of the most popular online content categories, cat videos?

“What it

First, there were catsWorthy of studyCamaraderie and cats