It’s the algorithm, you know. A game-changing data-gathering cyber vehicle that goes wherever a programmer tells it to and collects whatever it’s ‘told’ to in the digital universe. When a navigation-engine is constructed that directs the vehicle to search for any material similar to that which you seek, it creates a magnetic rabbit hole down which hundreds of millions of folk tumble daily. Artificial intelligence that takes advantage of human laziness or an inclination towards the path of least resistance, is the downside of this cyber genius. To what end this design? It’s revolutionised scientific research. Commerce and entertainment have leapt inseparably aboard, reaping previously-unimagined riches. Perhaps the answer lies in the word predictability. If you can identify somebody’s cyber-interests, you can predict what they might want – and serve up an unending diet of just that. Enter YouTube and youngsters hungry for knowledge – and instant-fix, easy entertainment. Here lies the rub. Watching hours of videos of a machine shredding anything from octopus tentacles to pencils, or a million ways to play with slime are not exactly enlightening, although they’re not terribly damaging. Teenagers, whose parenting has steered them away from the Dark Web, proclaim its developmental dangers towards younger children here. One finger press mistake is all it takes… – Chris Bateman

Teens explain their YouTube obsession (Because adults don’t get it)