Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

YouTube Addiction

jntrnr.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

361–370 of 417 posts

Re: YouTube Addiction

#361

Post by nicbou »

eloff wrote: post #3

I’ve been warily watching this grow in my own life. At first it was just some podcasts in the background while working. Then it became all kinds of videos. Then it became while taking breaks, preparing food, eating food, using the bathroom, etc. It consumed all my quiet time. I managed to break the habit as a side effect of upending my whole life and digital nomading around for a year and a half (side note, that was…

Interesting fix! My addiction tends to get worse when I'm on the road, because I'm usually alone and tired at the end of the day. At home I have more options.

Re: YouTube Addiction

#362

Post by nicbou »

layer8 wrote: post #48
juujian wrote: post #5

I have to be honest, whenever I get busy and do not watch any video for a couple of days, and then I get back to youtube, I am somewhat disappointed by the content. And recently the algorithm has been really insistent on having me watch certain videos. I just open the page and see a couple of videos I did not want to watch the last time around.

You can mark suggested videos as "Not interested".

If it worked I wouldn't see family guy video recommendations by now

Re: YouTube Addiction

#363

Post by nicbou »

boredemployee wrote: post #119

I wonder if all the addiction related to internet (porn, gaming, surfing, you name it) has anything to do with our daily routine (aka work) that is so boring that we want an immediate and constant distraction

I'm still addicted without having to work much. It's just so easy to access YouTube compared to starting a more rewarding activity

Re: YouTube Addiction

#364

Post by justnotworthit »

mackrevinack wrote: post #80
suzumer wrote: post #8

I used to be addicted to youtube, and the most effective method I found to limiting my consumption was using an extension called Unhook. It removes all recommendations and the shorts and trending tabs, so the only videos I can watch are those from channels I'm subscribed to, or videos that I search for.

you can hide lots of things with ublock origin as well. these are the filters im using to hide the sidebar and shorts: ! youtube suggested videos sidebar www.youtube.com##ytd-item-section-renderer.ytd-watch-next-secondary-results-renderer.style-scope ! youtube shorts on homepage www.youtube.com##.ytd-rich-section-renderer.style-scope > .ytd-rich-shelf-renderer.style-scope

i strongly recommend "Remove Youtube Suggestions" firefox addon for the ultimate youtube hider. It's even gotten so full featured you can show comments but hide names. Weird but cool.

Re: YouTube Addiction

#365

Post by SunlightEdge »

greenpeas wrote: post #239
SunlightEdge wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It helped me get off social media, and computer game addiction and a news site I didn't want to follow. I've used it successfully for alcohol too (but I was never a huge drinker). I also used it to try and promote good behaviours too

Does the desired behavior continue after the initial 28 day period? One problem I encountered when I tried to change my behavior using similar methods is that I don't know how strict I should be with myself. For example if I don't want to quit playing games entirely, and I'd like to enjoy the occasional game, I might set some soft limits, but that opens the door for a relapse in the future. Or do you find that even t…

I think that temporary abstinence is worthwhile - because what will happen is you find new ways to fill that time. And those new things will really be what helps you move on ultimately. But yeah, you might relapse, it can be hard if you enjoy the activity a lot. But after you've had your fill it should be easier to walk away/ do another 28 days!

Re: YouTube Addiction

#366

Post by clnq »

drdaeman wrote: post #273
clnq wrote: post #148

I successfully reduced time wasted on YouTube by making the website much less appealing. I unsubscribed from everything, emptied all of my playlists, unliked every video I liked, deleted my comments, and disabled my YouTube history. I also turned off ad blocking for YouTube. Now the algorithm isn't targeting me enough to serve attention-grabbing content. And the time it takes to get gratification with pre-video ads h…

> I unsubscribed from everything, emptied all of my playlists This is probably enough. I've never subscribed to anything except for a friend who doesn't post anything, some random dude who hacked an old LG TV (he doesn't post anything either) and a couple of channels. I've just checked and all the recommendations I see are completely useless; I'm indifferent at best or sometimes even repulsed. Even though I can see h…

Even after depersonalizing my YouTube account as much as possible, it still recommends software engineering videos to me. These recommendations are not excellent, but they are good. I also watched a lot of videos about gaming before I purged my account. I still see many of those in my recommendations.

The algorithm becomes much better at giving you content you would watch as it has more data to work with. But surprisingly, even when it is SUPPOSED TO have no data, it still has enough to recommend some content in my general area of interest.

About 1/3rd of my YouTube home page seems weakly targeted to me. But the weakness of this targeting is enough to disinterest me. For example, even if YouTube understands gaming is important to me, it doesn't understand that it is important to me as a games industry professional. So it recommends Mario mods in GTA:IV rather than documentaries, analysis videos, and videos about industry trends.

I would still consider these "good recommendations" (or perhaps "informed recommendations" is more appropriate). Just not good enough for me to be engaged with the platform.

Re: YouTube Addiction

#367

Post by remify »

OwlsParlay wrote: post #278

AS someone who watches a lot of YouTube, like the Let's Play content mentioned, I recognise and sympathise with the OP. But I think the problem isn't necessarily YouTube - thats just the drug of choice. It could be Twitch, it could be podcasts, or television, or any other form of entertainment offering a parasocial relationship. One that fill the gaping lonely hole in so many people's lives.

YouTube is definitely trying to make you watch the absolute most they can.

Re: YouTube Addiction

#368

Post by poser-boy »

TexanFeller wrote: post #29

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…

Political videos on YouTube has the widest spectrum when it comes to quality.

You can get highly informative, mind-changing videos with 10k-30k views. And on the other end, hot-take, "debate me bro!" Twitch personalities with 1M-3M views.

That's the nature of it, don't see this on any other category really.

Re: YouTube Addiction

#369

Post by poser-boy »

Waterluvian wrote: post #26
cm2187 wrote: post #18

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

Is it just me or is Google quietly in serious distress? Ads have been getting a LOT worse very quickly. Almost every ad I saw in a day when my UBlock wasn’t working was advertising an actual fraud. Whether crypto or recession get rich quick or “aluminum is giving you cancer.” Advertising frequency is cranked way up. On mobile 5 second unskippables are 6-7 now. I’ll do a search and my ENTIRE screen is advertising unti…

It's getting really bad. I've seen horrible voice dubs over Elon Musk keynote presentations advertising crypto in the YouTube ads!

Re: YouTube Addiction

#370

Post by dfrey1 »

BizarreByte wrote: post #107

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…

I have the same issue. As an orthodox Jew, I'm very very thankful for keeping the Sabbath, because that makes it 25 hours off my phone. It reminds me that I can do this, and I can limit my time. But setting those boundaries is really really hard!
Post reply on HN