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YouTube Addiction

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151–160 of 417 posts

Re: YouTube Addiction

#151

Youtube is so bad at suggesting videos for me that it mystifies me how people could be addicted to it. "Oh you watched one video about [x] by creator [y]. Here are 100 more videos by creatory [y]. Here are 100 more videos about [x]" ...uh I watched a recipe for cheesecake. I don't need 100 more cheesecake videos, or even 100 more recipes by that youtuber.

I have this problem with recommendation engines generally. Spotify, Netflix, Steam, etc. They are very bad at making novel, interesting recommendations. They will also blindly recommend popular things, which is irritating. Steam is an exception here - it has a slider bar that allows exclusion of popular content in favor of niche / indie stuff.

oh you watched one video about MMA? Here's 10 million things about MMA. Oh you watched a video about the war in ukraine? Here's another 10 million videos about the war in ukraine.

When I first studied recommendation algorithms I remember the classic "people who buy hamburgers and hamburger buns also buy ketchup and mustard" sort of things. On youtube its more like people who watch a video about anything are doomed to be recommended further videos about that thing forever, and adjacent 'also watched' related topics aren't really a thing.

Re: YouTube Addiction

#152

I am seriously addicted to the internet in general and while it may not be an addiction in the physical sense, it has caused major issues in my life. The amount of time I spend on the Internet is insane and no matter how hard I try to will power through it and cut down my usage I always fail. If I ever figure out how to overcome it I'll have to write a book or something, because I've wasted years of my life and misse…

You can't willpower through it if it's a defense mechanism employed by your brain to hide underlying pain. Maybe it's time to try something new. Check out Gabor Maté: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=74DDEDmHDvw

I read the transcript. TLDR is there is no actionable information there other than "you could benefit from therapy"

Re: YouTube Addiction

#153
I am addicted to mindlessly scrolling YouTube as well. What has worked well for me to break this are these habits

1. I use iPhone focuses to set times during the workday where time wasting apps are hidden

2. I have blocked YouTube.com so I can't see recommended videos and instead get redirected to https://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptions. That way if I do watch YouTube it's only who I'm subscribed to and feels more intentional.

3. I use the momentum extension so that new tabs don't show me my most frequently accessed websites (usually time wasters)

4. I use leech block for Firefox (stayfocusd for chrome) which limits the time I can spend on sites in my addiction category (where YouTube resides)

5. I generally try to be more conscious when I'm on YouTube. I stop and ask myself questions like "can I be working on something else?" "Is this actually helping me right now?", "is there something more important I can be working on?"

Lastly as with any reduction you need to fill that time with other things. If you cut out 3 hours of YouTube a day then don't expect to spend those 3 hours doing something more productive. You'd be better off if you took those three hours and did 1 hour of reading (nothing super productive, non fiction, thrillers, drama, etc), one hour with going for a walk or chores or something easy, and one hour of actually working on a project or goal. The break down can change, but the most important thing is not expecting to be hyper productive during all the extra time you have. You still have to balance it out if you want it to be sustainable.

Re: YouTube Addiction

#154
post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I spend way more time random surfing than I probably should. Honestly we probably are both dealing with ADHD, depression, or some sort of anxiety disorder.

I actually do have an (adult) ADHD diagnosis, though I've always been a bit sceptical of it. It seemed too easy to get and I really didn't think the testing criteria were very good. I have wanted to try medicine to see if it helps me at all, but I've never been able to do so. My GP was willing to perscribe me something, but decided my BP was too high and that was that. There are definitely anxiety issues at play as w…

Combine with a blood pressure medicine? Guanfacine is specifically an ADHD treating blood pressure medication.

Re: YouTube Addiction

#155
post #18

To cure your youtube addiction, just disable your adblocker. Works very well.

Yes, I have shaken my YouTube addiction this way. It naturally makes YouTube less appealing. It also lengthens the habit-forming action->random outcome cycle by 20 or more seconds with pre-roll ads. Enabling ads on YouTube is the opposite of autoplay in terms of addiction.

Re: YouTube Addiction

#156
post #37

I'm the type to become addicted and I had a big problem with spending vastly too much time on YT. A few months ago I cleared my search and watch history and subscriptions to start fresh. Now I only allow myself to watch videos about math, science, or playing instruments I'm interested in learning to play. If I ever see a politically leaning recommendation I tell YT to never show it to me again. If I slip up and watch…

I wish there was a way to transpose someone else's "YouTube diet" so to speak. this probably exists through tag matching ect. but it would be nice.

Hah, sounds similar to a fecal transplant to restore the gut biome.

Re: YouTube Addiction

#157
post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually do have an (adult) ADHD diagnosis, though I've always been a bit sceptical of it. It seemed too easy to get and I really didn't think the testing criteria were very good. I have wanted to try medicine to see if it helps me at all, but I've never been able to do so. My GP was willing to perscribe me something, but decided my BP was too high and that was that. There are definitely anxiety issues at play as w…

Combine with a blood pressure medicine? Guanfacine is specifically an ADHD treating blood pressure medication.

I'm not the GP, so I don't get to make that call. If they say no that's the end of the story. It's frustrating, but ultimatly just how it is.

There's no possibility of a second opinion either because I'm really damn lucky to even have access to a GP, the waiting list for one is ~3-4 years long right now if you don't already have one.

Re: YouTube Addiction

#158

I am seriously addicted to the internet in general and while it may not be an addiction in the physical sense, it has caused major issues in my life. The amount of time I spend on the Internet is insane and no matter how hard I try to will power through it and cut down my usage I always fail. If I ever figure out how to overcome it I'll have to write a book or something, because I've wasted years of my life and misse…

You can't willpower through it if it's a defense mechanism employed by your brain to hide underlying pain. Maybe it's time to try something new. Check out Gabor Maté: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=74DDEDmHDvw

If you're intent on getting off the internet, Gabor has several books worth reading.

One trouble with his writing and speaking on the subject isn't that I think he's wrong or does a bad job at all, but like anything in psychology, you aren't going to read it and "get there", so to speak. What Gabor describes is often years of critical reflection away from fully making sense. I guess from my perspective I don't get the sense that he's aware of that; he speaks with ease, confidence, and a tone that suggests this can all be so easy.

Take for example the simple notion that your anxieties are a feedback loop, deeply entrenched through decades after being initiated in your childhood. This isn't far fetched, but for many of us, the idea we had hard times in childhood that could cause real trauma is far fetched. It doesn't seem to make sense, and you might almost feel silly or guilty for entertaining the thought. Your parents loved you, right? You had food and clothes, a cool bed shaped like a fire truck, etc.

It takes a long time to navigate those things and uncover what might have gone wrong (if in fact something ever did), and to assess that with family in a way that's constructive and as factual as possible (if that's even an options). The very nature of these things causes us to pretend it never happened, and for adults, the reason it was never addressed could be because they didn't notice it or recognize its significance. This gives everyone the sense that everything was "fine".

Of course there are more acutely traumatic experiences in childhood, and that's easy to point out yet still can be so difficult to recognize as a harmful, frightening, overwhelming thing. You build up these defences, excuses, explanations, etc. Nah, there's no way you had childhood trauma.

Maybe this is incredibly obvious to most people. It wasn't for me, and I found myself putting down his books and thinking... Well shit, if it's that simple, what's wrong with me? Why can't I get past X or Y if I'm endowed with this knowledge? I don't expect miracles, and I didn't, but I suppose his writing brought me very close to the problem yet left me feeling so far from the solution. It's almost like you're looking at the peak of a mountain straight ahead of you, yet the only way to the top is to back track an enormous distance, navigate around the base from far away, doubt yourself the entire way, and climb the mountain from an approach on the opposite side you're currently on.

To his credit, he acknowledges his own lack of progress and deficiencies, and how it's always an ongoing project. Of course it is. I suppose I have the sense that he underestimate how hard it is to get the the point where you can leverage the paradigm he's offering, even though it seems a stone's throw from solutions.

Regardless, I highly recommend his books. I'd just add the caveat that if it resonates with you, don't expect to make meaningful progress on any new ideas for a while. And that's okay. These things always take time – especially if you've been living with it for decades.

Re: YouTube Addiction

#159
post #13

It seems like all ad (and tracking) supported companies know how to do is optimize for engagement, which effectively means becoming addictive. This business model is too easy and too profitable to ever go away, so all we can do is learn to recognize it, and learn how to it responsibly. Like other addictions, sometimes this means restricting, and sometimes this means wholly abstaining. On the topic of Youtube addictio…

> so all we can do is learn to recognize it, and learn how to it responsibly Or we can regulate it.

If there were only a way to slow down the internet connection to 1mbps or so, a lot of that instant-gratification habit-forming engagement psychology wouldn't be very effective anymore.

Even before YouTube, people could have spent 9 hours a day watching rented VHS and DVDs. It just took too much effort to form a habit based on instant gratification with that. So not many people did. And people were much more selective of what they consumed, too, which is an added benefit for mental health.

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