I’ve noticed YouTube specifically has become more addictive, I never used to be one to sit and scroll for long durations before but I often catch myself spending way too long on shorts now
Even people or older generations seem to be getting sucked in nowadays
I’ve found I’ve used my phone a lot less, but it might be because I prefer either longer, more essay structured videos, or a good half hour unscripted comedy bit (podcast, video game, whatever). I don’t even bother with a lot of stuff under 10 minutes unless it’s something like an animation or a skit where that time would be unreasonable. Still though, they’re from channels I know, and aren’t ones I’m randomly being served. I’ve gotten more into TV recently because if it, and I read manga when I have a little bit of downtime.
Still though, the way popular web video has gone, it’s funny remembering YouTube nuking short videos a decade back when they changed the revenue structure. They already had the videos being made on their platform and actively discouraged them.
I feel the exact opposite about you tube. I feel like there is nothing interesting to watch any more unless one of my follows post a new video
I feel the same way. New show on Netulumaxplus? Add it to the list, never watch it. New post from a followed YT channel? Instant watch then down the rabbit hole of related stuff. I get more out my ~$50 in Patreon subscriptions in a single month than I ever will out of the $100/month I spend on streaming services.
I just avoid shorts or reels or whatever personally. They’re short and engaging making it easy to lose track of time.
But yeah you’re 100% right my parents (late 50s) have started doing it a lot. I’ve noticed a lot of teenagers do as well.
Me too. I’ve seen my partner on them and it’s like a really bad version of tiktok only you don’t get to train the algorithm properly. No thanks.
My wife’s attention span has gone to shit thanks to short form videos like that. From vine to ticktock to whatever Facebook version she uses now, I’ve gotten to the point where if she picks up her phone while we’re talking, I’ll just stop talking until she looks up. If we’re whatching a new movie or show, I’ll pause it until she puts the phone down.
Sometimes it takes her several minutes to realize what she’s doing.
I’m so fucking tired of having to pause things to explain what we just watched because she was too busy watching some asshole drop a glass of milk onto the floor for a joke. I’m tired of having to repeat myself because she “needed stimulation” and decided the conversation we
arewere actively having isn’t good enough.So now I just don’t bother. If she’s interested, she’ll ask. If it’s important, I’ll tell her to put the phone down because it’s important.
This reminds me of “Gum’s Gotten Mintier Lately. Have You Noticed?”
Yeah as much as I hate shorts or reels in theory it’s so easy to get sucked in to scrolling for hours. I had to delete instsgram and install an extension that blocks shorts because of it
Everyone realised how well tiktok worked and scrambled to copy the format.
I don’t watch shorts, but the algorithm became absolute trash for me recently.
The problem is that most people aren’t aware that shorts / stories are made to be addictive.
If you keep pointing out to your friends and family how much time / battery they waste watching them they may start to take action though.
I’m well aware how much time I’m wasting, I’ve got a screen time monitor setup and have even gone so far as writing my own script that takes me to youareanidiot.org if I try to open YouTube before 10am but it still didn’t stop me for a good amount of time
I think I might’ve just about kicked it at this point but now I’m spending loads of time scrolling Lemmy and talking to strangers instead which I suppose is marginally better
I have the same problem with YouTube! Between work + school I don’t have free time until 930/10, so I unwind watching documentaries on YouTube and it’s 2-3am before I know it :(
I recently ordered an EReader and if books can’t replace that YouTube urge I might have to go the same route as you and redirect myself after midnight.
I give myself a pass for Lemmy though. It’s not sucking me in, rather I open the site specifically for news for sites that don’t offer RSS feeds. (RSS helps a lot with eliminating the news -> distraction scenario)
deleted by creator
I’m feeling the opposite lately. YouTube recommendations suck. I often open the app/page for the quick dopamine rush, but few of the recommendations interests me, so I just bounce off. For me, YouTube is mostly for long form content nowadays. Something I can put in the background while cooking/doing dishes.
Instagram is turning more and more like TikTok. Sometimes it recommends me something fun (like cat videos), but often it’s just nonsense. So I bounce off quite quickly there as well.
I feel happy about it.
Hey, if it’s fun/interesting/informative it seems fine to me. If you’re turning into a drooling maga zombie watching rage bait then that’s on you.
It’s entertaining but it’s a massive waste of time that puts my brain into a state I don’t like.
I’ll happily waste hours on videogames, watching long form content, tinkering with my laptop etc because I at least feel like I’ve come away with something at the end of that whereas shorts the moment I stop I feel like I’ve just completely wasted 15 minutes of my life
deleted by creator
I think there’s an extension which rewrites all the clickbaitey video titles to make them descriptive instead if that’s of any interest
Big tech writes the equivalent of digital heroin.
The longer they can keep you on their platforms,
the more they can data-farm you,
the more data they have on you,
the more they can sell about you / earn on you.Detox yourself from your bad heroin addiction,
by switching to fair FOSS (Free Open Source Software) alternatives.E.g. Use Invidious, Grayjay or NewPipe instead of YouTube.
I downloaded freetube, is that one ok?
Have not used FreeTube myself.
However it appears to be reputable / decent.- It’s source is open: https://github.com/FreeTubeApp/FreeTube
- It’s mentioned in the Invidious repo: https://github.com/iv-org/invidious#projects-using-invidious
Rule of thumb:
- Steer clear of proprietary / closed source software
- Always aim to use open source software if possible
thanks bb
If anything I’m less addicted to my smartphone now that Reddit got rid of the 3rd party apps.
Not really. I never got into mobile gaming, tiktok, reels, shorts, instagram, snapchat etc. so I mainly use my phone for podcasts, maps and browsing lemmy while on toilet. While on my computer I spend 95% of my time on YouTube but I feel like even that has gotten worse lately. I’ve been getting suggestions about videos with like 19 views constantly and no matter how many I mark as “not interested” or “don’t recommend channel” they just keep coming back. Apparently because I like watching TheRunningManZ I must also like every other DayZ streamer that no one has ever heard about.
When I watch videos on my phone, I mostly just watch downloaded TV shows using VLC. I never use the youtube app. If I watch a youtube video, I use Firefox with uBlock origin.
I hate using a small screen, so I watch 99.9% of my videos on my laptop and desktop. I can’t stand youtube shorts, so I use an addon to block them.
I tend to like watching YouTube on my phone every now and again, I don’t have a problem with proper full length videos. It’s the fact that I’m bombarded with so many shorts in the UI and can’t get rid of them on mobile
Obviously newpipe and piped are a thing but they both are somewhat lacking compared to the official app in user experience
