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The YouTube Effect
Directed by
Alex Winter
NR
2023
1h 39m
Documentary
,
Mystery
,
and more
5.6
85%
67%
Watch Free
In this eye-opening documentary, Alex Winter presents a thoughtful, troubling look at YouTube, a site with humble origins that has gone on to change how we experience the world.
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Cast of The YouTube Effect
Steve Chen
Self - YouTube Co-Founder
Jillian C. York
Self - Author, Free Expression Activist
Hany Farid
Self - Professor, UC Berkeley, Computer Science and School of Information (voice)
Talia Lavin
Self - Journalist, Author (voice)
Anthony Padilla
Self - YouTube Creator, Smosh
Ian Hecox
Self - YouTube Creator, Smosh (voice)
Susan Wojcicki
Self - Former YouTube CEO
Nitasha Tiku
Self -Tech Culture Reporter, The Washington Post (voice)
Becca Lewis
Self - Digital Media Researcher (voice)
Natalie Wynn
Self - YouTube Creator, ContraPoints
Caleb Cain
Self - YouTube Creator, Faraday Speaks
Brianna Wu
Self - Software Engineer, Video Game Developer
Carrie Goldberg
Self - Online Abuse Lawyer
Andy Parker
Self - Father of Alison Parker
Dave Lauer
Self - CEO Urvin.ai and Al Ethics Writer (voice)
Ryan Kaji
Self - YouTube Creator, Ryan's World
Shion Kaji
Self - Ryan's Father
Tyler
Self - Lost Mother to Far Right YouTube Conspiracy Videos
Alex Winter
Self / Director / Writer / Producer
LoAnn Kaji
Self - Ryan's Mother
See all
The YouTube Effect Ratings & Reviews
neuroparadox
July 30, 2025
I love YouTube, is still think it can be used for good.❤️❤️❤️ Until then, I will continue watching an unhealthy amount of video essays/reviews about movies or science videos. YT Shout-outs: Amanda the Jedi Ang Collier Arvin Ash Channel Awesome Cineflix Dr. Becky Dr. Blitz Every Frame a Painting IHE Kolo Kino Minty Mista GG Patrick Willems PBS Space Time Professor Dave Quanta Magazine Red Letter Media (not Rich) 😂 jk Scene It SciManDan Some More News (been watching since Cracked) SpaceIce Steve Mould Studio Binder The Critical Drinker The Flop House Podcast The Movie Rabbit Hole The Onion (not the vegetable) The Selador Veritasium We Hate Movies xkcd. YMS Also, didn't realize til he pops up for like 5 seconds in a Skype call, but the director is that Alex Winter 👍👍
Loud and Clear Reviews
Joseph Tomastik
A great summary of where YouTube came from and why we should both celebrate and be afraid of where it is now.
What She Said
Anne Brodie
YouTube can't separate negative and positive and negative videos; it just wants clicks. Vulnerable people gain ground. YouTube helps fire the culture wars and the dumbing down of discourse; the dark side of algorithm life is here.
The Newnan Times-Herald
Jonathan W. Hickman
... an interesting time capsule that will be studied for years to come.
Beyond the Cinerama Dome
Tina Kakadelis
The YouTube Effect is a worthwhile attempt at understanding how the site has changed society's collective consciousness and its ability to develop empathy.
FilmWeek (LAist)
Andy Klein
My only complaint... Is that it's much big a topic for 90 minutes. But it's very well done.
FilmWeek (LAist)
Christy Lemire
Really well done.
Movie Madness Podcast
Erik Childress
Zappa was as terrific a music doc as you could find lately but Alex Winter's tech doc addressing the social issues of the platform is very little that we aren't privy to already and doesn't dig further to find a more probing thesis about its influences.
HollywoodChicago.com
Patrick McDonald
Whodathunk that Alex "Bill of Bill & Ted" Winter would sound the clarion call of our current/future YouTube dread. The "effect"is YouTube/Google's ongoing convenient ignoring of false narrative, fascist, election denying channels. W/Alex Winter interview.
In Review Online
Esmé Holden
It's possible the director is trying to make a movie for the totally unaware, but in that broadness he allows too much to fall through the cracks.
Austin Chronicle
Richard Whittaker
Core concern about its [Youtube] dangers is what really drives The YouTube Effect, and re-enforces its central finding that it has had an undeniably corrosive effect on our lives, even as we've fallen for its steady stream of pablum and bootlegged shows.
Spectrum Culture
Joel Copling
The YouTube Effect is a bit of a jumble of information and perspectives, but it's also never less than entertaining.
Common Sense Media
Tara McNamara
While Winter's documentary shares essential information about a brand that's ubiquitous in many kids' lives, it's a traumatic, anxiety-inducing ride.
Hey, Have You Seen ...?
Jared Mobarak
An expansive look at how damaging technological growth on an unprecedented scale proves when put in the hands of cutthroat opportunists left to police themselves so a largely apathetic government can willingly reap the benefits of letting them.
Mark Reviews Movies
Mark Dujsik
The YouTube Effect [is] an overly ambitious but succinctly argued documentary by director Alex Winter.
New York Times
Natalia Winkelman
Assembles a fair amount of information about the impact of YouTube on society, but struggles to find something new to say with it.
Eye for Film
Jennie Kermode
The film is informationally dense; it must have been exhausting to put together, and watching it all at once highlights just what a roller-coaster ride life with YouTube has been.
48 Hills
Dennis Harvey
Effect offers no clear solutions, but this dizzying overview does emphasize that sweeping reforms have happened in the past for the sake of the public's well-being.
Film Threat
Jason Delgado
Every new medium, be it radio, film, television, video games, or now YouTube, has been blamed for being a possible downfall for our youth and society in general. Is it different this time?
TheWrap
William Bibbiani
[The film might] be a catalog of very recent history, but it serves the valuable function of connecting the many, seemingly randomly assorted dots into a clear narrative picture.
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