this post was submitted on 15 Jul 2026
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You Should Know

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When you share a YouTube video using the share button it adds “si=some_unique_code” to the URL. If you don’t remove that it shows your personal account to anyone who receives it so that they can chat directly with you. For a lot of people this is their real name.

I’ve seen it all over Lemmy so I figured I’d mention it here! You only need the stuff before the question mark in the URL to let others see the video.

This can also be turned off in your YouTube settings under the privacy section. The setting is “channel visibility for shared links”. It will still add the si code for tracking though.

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[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I just share the URL from the browser.

Even on mobile: I don't use the YouTube app. On Android, this is a no-brainer, since you can run Firefox and uBlock Origin and bypass all the ads. On iOS it is a bit more dicey, but still advantageous to forego the app. Currently DuckDuckGo can bypass the ads for free. If you don't mind paying, Wipr2 can also do it, in Safari. Then you just put a web shortcut to YouTube and bam, ad-free YouTube. Shitty icon though (it's the regular icon in a white squircle). Either way, share from the browser, not YouTube.

Also, of course you can remove all the extra shit from the URL if you know how. That wisdom is lost on younger generations, but innate to older ones (who grew up around tech, like Millennials; or younger Gen X who adopted it at a young age — not like these iPad babies you have now).

[–] XeroxCool@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago (3 children)

I don't see how it's a generational thing. I remember when every link included the page type at the end, meaning there was nothing that could be truncated. If you don't know what si stands for or don't know that anything after a ? Is tracking bullshit, then you simply don't know. It's a "knowledgeable person" thing that can be learned at any time. I've pointed it out and many people I know still don't care

[–] schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

I don’t see how it’s a generational thing.

People who grew up when smartphones were already a thing might never have needed to learn how the Internet and URLs actually work. To a lot of everyday users nowadays, the Internet is just a series of smartphone or tablet apps you switch between. I used to think that the spread of the Internet into more segments of society would create a society of computer nerds, ha ha ha ha ha nope.

[–] XeroxCool@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Sample the people around you in real life. They don't know any better, regardless of age. The group that experienced it has already largely forgotten it because the link purpose got obfuscated and the need became obsolete in everyday use

[–] chuckleslord@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (2 children)

As a web developer, everything after the ? is actually parameters for the request. Anything could be in there, even important stuff (though hopefully nothing identifying, since that is extremely unsecure). You will likely break functionality if you delete everything without knowing what it is.

[–] black0ut@pawb.social 5 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Usually parameters are easy to understand. Like the time parameter in yt URLs, which is t=180 (meaning 180 seconds from the beginning of the video). Usually, parameters that are a string of seemingly random letters are UIDs or tracking parameters. Whenever I see a URL with one or multiple of those, I start deleting them and seeing if the URL still works. In 90% of the cases, it still does. Amazon is one of the worst offenders, with usually 4 or 5 random looking parameters that can be deleted without affecting the functionality of the URL.

[–] asmr@feddit.nl 1 points 3 days ago

t= is the only useful parameter in YouTube URLs (that I know of). If not for that we could just strip all of the parameters out.

[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 2 points 3 days ago

if it's obfuscated, then it's assumed to be malicious

[–] binux@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

People can't even unanimously agree on when each generation starts and ends (see terms like "zillenial" or "xillenial") so I'd even go so far as to say it's a completely redundant concept in the colloquial sense. Obviously most people care more about continuing to use the "kids these days" rhetoric so it hardly matters regardless, but it doesn't make it any less ridiculous.

[–] XeroxCool@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Blurry deliberations are typical. As time goes on, "millennial" will become more accurate as the differences between xennial and zillennial become smaller and smaller in comparison to differences between _ennial and alpha or beta or delta. I just take issue with acting like direct url interface was the experience of a generation, and not a short-lived blip for the gen pop that has already been forgotten, especially as full url purpose has shifted to something arguably evil.

[–] binux@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 days ago

Blurry deliberations are typical.

Yes, though my point that I wanted to add is that people seem to treat generational terms as if they’re a fact of reality instead of a very shaky conceptualization of cultural differences between birth groups that are already influenced by a lot more factors than just when people are born. It’s much more of a spectrum than a strict range of demographics inherent to humanity.