YouTube is testing a custom feed that could finally fix your chaotic homepage
The new feature is expected to give viewers a way to tell YouTube exactly what they want to see, instead of leaving the algorithm to guess.
If you’ve ever clicked one oddly specific video on YouTube and instantly regretted it, you’re not alone. Maybe you watched a single mukbang out of curiosity, and now your homepage is filled with seafood platters the size of laptop screens. Or you clicked a random children’s cartoon for a younger sibling, and suddenly YouTube thinks you’re a Peppa Pig superfan.
For years, this has been one of the internet’s most shared frustrations: YouTube’s algorithm can be powerful, but also painfully assumptive. Now, the platform is attempting to address it with a new experimental feature called “Your Custom Feed.”
It basically works like this. For users included in the experiment, a new tab appears on the homepage beside the regular “Home” button. Clicking it opens a prompt bar where you can tell YouTube exactly what you want to see. DIY home hacks, Afrobeat music documentaries, Formula 1 breakdowns, cooking tutorials, K-drama commentary. Anything that reflects your actual interests.
Louis Eriakha
Why this new custom feed matters for users and for YouTube
YouTube’s recommendation system is one of the most advanced personalization engines online. It drives more than 70% of total watch time. But its strength often becomes a weakness. It treats casual viewing as long-term preference, pushes users into narrow content loops, and requires constant “training” through likes and Not Interested clicks.
“Your Custom Feed” acknowledges a simple truth. Personalization shouldn’t be a guessing game.
Other platforms are rethinking this too. Threads is experimenting with customizable feed controls. X (formerly Twitter) is working on AI-adjusted timelines through Grok. TikTok is testing ways to reduce repetitive or unwanted content. Together, they point to a shift away from passive algorithmic control toward user-guided recommendation systems.
The takeaway
For a really long time, platforms assumed algorithms should decide what we see, based on hidden signals and behavioral predictions. YouTube’s “Your Custom Feed” challenges that idea by letting users tell the platform what they want instead of being profiled by accident.
If deployed widely, it could set a new expectation across social media. A model where algorithms do not simply observe us but collaborate with us. For many internet users, that shift is long overdue.
Emmanuel Umahi
