Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pro tip: uBlock origin - no ads for no cost :)
Pro tip: instead of paying, discretely sneak out of restaurants. Dinner for no cost :)
Lol no. Don't equate avoiding ads online with stealing.
YouTube Addiction
301–310 of 417 posts
Re: YouTube Addiction
#302Me too.
I noticed this one night when I spent something like 2 hrs scrolling youtube on my TV adding "gotta watch" stuff to watch later list. My eye lids were heavy. I wasn't even watching the videos, just adding them to later.
I was addicted to the find of a video that promised to make my life better. Though the obvious fact that 1) probably not and 2) even if so I'd have to watch it, not just queue it for later. It really hit me i had a problem when youtube failed to add to watch later. apparently 5k videos is the limit for that list. (And they dont give you any rapid way to clean it up either, lol).
Books is my answer. Yes we can waste time with books, but the stimulation package is just so below the threshold that I'm not worried about. It's like yes you can get fat eating just fresh/roasted vegetables. But I dare ya to try.
Re: YouTube Addiction
#303Been there - still am. self-control ( https://selfcontrolapp.com/ ) is the nuclear tool in my anti-scrolling arsenal. If you figure out how to get around it please do not tell me - it's the best thing I've found for completely shutting myself out of youtube (and chess websites - bullet chess is a similar drug for me). Disclosure - I'm full time working on software that arms people with better tools for fighting compu…
I think it's incredibly misguided and crass to plug websites and apps in a discussion about people sharing struggles with addiction to websites and apps.
The websites and apps mentioned aren't the sort that people would be addicted to anyway. (this should be blindingly obvious) In fact their very purpose is addressing the problem of web site addiction. Are you suggesting that people might be spending hours and hours on the "screentimeaccountability" web site, as part of their addiction?
Anyway, we're on a web site right now. Isn't any comment on this thread similarly "misguided" (including your own), since that is one more bit of content for the addicted person to consume?
Re: YouTube Addiction
#304I 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 aren’t pathetic.
Unfortunately many apps aren’t that good and just resort to trying to be the most important app in your device.
Too much ux practice has been perverted to have the user work for their app instead of working for the user.
The really nice thing is we are not alone and rarely the first. The goal is to create and not consume. Write lots like this comment and revisit and review it. Add to it mindfully.
You might like this books called Stolen Focus: https://www.amazon.ca/Stolen-Focus-Attention-Think-Deeply/dp...
To help break the distraction cycles to finish a book, there are more and more resources out there for disrupting the novelty seeking attention dopamine loops.
Some things that help:
- make your phone screen black and white
- turn off all notifications of all apps. This means alerts, notifications , counters and dots.
- the notification thet is on is your calendar. Setup notifications to remind you to check your device or messages at a set time. Your brain the knows you can enjoy it with full focus.
- a tablet is handy for moving your consumption to. When you put it down it’s put down.
- The mode of iOS is really decent.
- Use airplane mode liberally
- social media and digital detoxes help
- On your laptop manually edit your hosts files. Put all the sites you refresh many times a day. Make it a bit hard to edit and you’ll discover you won’t do it much.
- block Hn too on main decides. Dedicate a device to read and consume it and leave it there. Nothing you’ll miss out on.
- turn on all digital health tracking so you see your daily app and website usage. Rescuetime is a great little app.
There is a link that I’m trying to remember which explains this and more very well.
Re: YouTube Addiction
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pro tip: uBlock origin - no ads for no cost :)
Pro pro tip: Creating content on the internet is not free and if a creator says you can watch their video in exchange for watching ads OR paying for premium, if you care about those creators you'll honor that request.
And that's a great model. Ask for support, enough people offer it. Don't add paywall, the extra exposure will attract more people and statistically more payments. The whole ad driven model only works for the 'growth at all costs', VC financed platforms. To buy into their narrative whole sale is just naive. It's arguably quite detrimental because it incentivizes a race to the bottom with dark patterns fostering addiction (the very subject of this whole discussion). There are entire networks of content producers making millions by creating purposefully stupid and misleading videos on TikTok and YouTube, infuriating people driving engagement.
Re: YouTube Addiction
#306Me too. I noticed this one night when I spent something like 2 hrs scrolling youtube on my TV adding "gotta watch" stuff to watch later list. My eye lids were heavy. I wasn't even watching the videos, just adding them to later. I was addicted to the find of a video that promised to make my life better. Though the obvious fact that 1) probably not and 2) even if so I'd have to watch it, not just queue it for later. It…
Heh. First time I played Minecraft, I went to bed at 8AM the next morning (every block you mine, there's a tiny chance of a diamond). I suspect you were experiencing the same mechanism (the next video in the list might be worth saving), and it's also present in gambling (the next bet might be a big win).
It's a Skinner box. If the reward comes every time, or never, the subject loses interest. It's when the reward only comes sometimes that the pigeon keeps hammering the button.
Re: YouTube Addiction
#307I occasionally watch "let's play" videos as a harm reduced alternative to actually playing games. A half hour spent watching someone play a game/sim totally relieves my FOMO. It also dissipates my urge to build a gaming PC. As a maker and musician, there's tons of inspiring and informative content on YT. I feel that I'm quite net positive on my use of YT to enrich my life.
> a harm reduced alternative to actually playing games. There's probably some merit to this statement, but I sorta laugh at the difference in harm between 'watching' and 'playing'. Maybe the most candid thing for us to do is acknowledge that the "harm" we're talking about is a lack of gratification.
> is a lack of gratification.
Actually a really big harm is the opportunity cost and substitution for real life.
Video games feel like achievement but they're not --> so they don't get the rewards in life that come with real achievement --> so when they engage with real life it kinda sucks (from neglected chores, to neglected career and relationships) --> So they go to video games for that gratification feeling of status/achievement.
Re: YouTube Addiction
#308Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it's incredibly misguided and crass to plug websites and apps in a discussion about people sharing struggles with addiction to websites and apps.
The websites and apps mentioned aren't the sort that people would be addicted to anyway. (this should be blindingly obvious) In fact their very purpose is addressing the problem of web site addiction. Are you suggesting that people might be spending hours and hours on the "screentimeaccountability" web site, as part of their addiction? Anyway, we're on a web site right now. Isn't any comment on this thread similarly…
Sure, taking part in the conversation out of concern for my own mental health and seeking external points of view is exactly the same as saying "oh you think you spend too much time online/watching videos? here's an app for that!"
Adding friction will not solve the problem for people with addiction. Telling me to not take part in the conversation if I dare to call out bad advice (or worse, saying calling out bad advice is just as bad as giving it) is quite disrespectful.
Re: YouTube Addiction
#309Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it's incredibly misguided and crass to plug websites and apps in a discussion about people sharing struggles with addiction to websites and apps.
I don't think I plugged anything. I shared the best thing I've found to partially solve this problem in my own life (open source software I have no relationship to), shared that my full time job is working on this problem (because it's the largest obstacle in my life, not because I am trying to grift) and what I've built so far, with the explicit note that I would not recommend as a single magic bullet for addiction,…
You did absolutely nothing wrong.
I have similar problems, and used to use selfcontrol when I was primarily a mac user. (I haven't found anything like it for windows, which I now must use for work)
Your app seems to be about phones....? My issue is more with distractions on computers, since I work on a computer with multiple big monitors and I'm far more likely to waste time with things there rather than on a phone.
Re: YouTube Addiction
#310Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 th…
I guess you can say I just haven't reflected enough but I really have a hard time with the whole branch of thinking that blames all our patterns and activities on some hidden childhood trauma, and more generally with the obsession over finding the "original sin" cause for the patterns. It just feels like a cop out to have an explanation to something one can't deal with as if we have to blame the universe for our nature.
I find it more interesting to focus on developing modes of thinking and making our immediate environment more conducive to leading a good life, by recognizing bad thought process patterns and actions or people that lead us to do those bad things. Explaining the reason or understanding it always felt completely useless to me and it's why I can't really give the time of day to most of these theories of the mind or however you'd call them.