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YouTube users get option to set their Shorts time limit to zero minutes

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Re: YouTube users get option to set their Shorts time limit to zero minutes

#101
post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically I think it's for parents to regulate their kids.

I'm confused why you're bringing up parents and kids. Are you implying only children might have problems with self-control wrt media consumption?

> The feature was expanded in January to give parents some control over how long their kids spend scrolling through Shorts,

Re: YouTube users get option to set their Shorts time limit to zero minutes

#102

Approximately one in every hundred shorts consist of something good that isn't also in a video somewhere. Is there a script to force shorts to be presented in the same way as videos, so that the recommendation algorithm can be forced to appropriately and natively mix in the one or two shorts that I'd appreciate seeing with the video recommendations?

I wish there was a whitelist and blacklist (keywords or checklist or something) that could mostly faithfully be followed with some backend AI.

Whitelist (skew algorithm this way please):

-bicyles

-diy clothing

-python programming

-snakes

-art how-to

-tornadoes

Blacklist (skew algorithm away from this please):

-pranks

-anything with kids

-fake DIY

-ai produced content

-only-fans people

Re: YouTube users get option to set their Shorts time limit to zero minutes

#103

I have no affiliation with Shorts Blocker, but I installed it a long time ago and immediately forgot that shorts existed. Worth whatever I paid for it. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/shorts-blocker-for-youtube/id6...

why pay for something like that when you can just write an extremely simple addon that removes the shorts section from the homepage and anywhere on the site?

Re: YouTube users get option to set their Shorts time limit to zero minutes

#104
post #8

>YouTube now lets you turn off Shorts No it doesn't. If you were hoping it would mean you don't see shorts when you visit the Youtube home page, that's not what this is. I just tried the thing mentioned in the article-- set my Shorts time limit to 0 minutes. What it does is make it so if you click a short from somewhere the short plays, but then if you try to swipe to the next one it hits you with the "You reached yo…

It turns out, the tiger can't change its shorts

Re: YouTube users get option to set their Shorts time limit to zero minutes

#105
post #77

As a parent of 4 kids, I find Shorts to be morally reprehensible. I think the people working on them should honestly question their decision framework. Youtube is an international treasure. One of the greatest learning resources of all time. I want my children to have as broad of access to youtube as possible. I can't do that though, because they can go from watching a very interesting documentary or something fun li…

It’s so incredibly frustrating the effort required to keep the site/app from funnelling my kids into low effort slop.

I like to use it with my kids (under age of 6) to search and find interesting videos with them. The algorithm combined with the TV apps’s UX makes it such a frustrating experience.

There is so much potential there, but searching for things like space videos inevitably funnels me into AI generated slop and conspiracies. Searching for upcoming movie trailers funnels me into completely fake trailers. It’s clear the platform is an engagement engine first and a knowledge base second.

Re: YouTube users get option to set their Shorts time limit to zero minutes

#106

Approximately one in every hundred shorts consist of something good that isn't also in a video somewhere. Is there a script to force shorts to be presented in the same way as videos, so that the recommendation algorithm can be forced to appropriately and natively mix in the one or two shorts that I'd appreciate seeing with the video recommendations?

Weirdly enough I feel like this is how the Vision Pro Youtube app works. I'm not sure why.

Re: YouTube users get option to set their Shorts time limit to zero minutes

#107
post #8

>YouTube now lets you turn off Shorts No it doesn't. If you were hoping it would mean you don't see shorts when you visit the Youtube home page, that's not what this is. I just tried the thing mentioned in the article-- set my Shorts time limit to 0 minutes. What it does is make it so if you click a short from somewhere the short plays, but then if you try to swipe to the next one it hits you with the "You reached yo…

Damn, yeah that's what I was hoping for. Honestly, the only thing really keeping me from watching shorts is the perplexing UX decision to not show the channel name as part of the preview tile. As basic Internet hygiene it just feels real bad to click on a video without the tiniest bit of idea about its provenance. For that reason I never do and have always just wanted to hide Shorts altogether.

I don't watch shorts because of the type of content it encourages - short clickbait content for the attention deficit.

I want long form, well researched, well put together content. These types of content takes a long time to produce, unfortunately, and the youtube algorithm doesn't favour it.

Re: YouTube users get option to set their Shorts time limit to zero minutes

#108
I hope this doesn’t get lost in the sea of comments

I just set shorts to 0 minutes

Tried to watch a short Got the message saying I’ve reached my limit and when I press X in the top right

I CAN WATCH SHORTS AGAIN

That is the most half assed attempt to limit my scrolling I could think of

Wow!

Re: YouTube users get option to set their Shorts time limit to zero minutes

#109
post #8

>YouTube now lets you turn off Shorts No it doesn't. If you were hoping it would mean you don't see shorts when you visit the Youtube home page, that's not what this is. I just tried the thing mentioned in the article-- set my Shorts time limit to 0 minutes. What it does is make it so if you click a short from somewhere the short plays, but then if you try to swipe to the next one it hits you with the "You reached yo…

It really amazes how how Youtube refuses to let me hide stuff I don't want to see on my homepage. I still long for the ability to tell them to not give me mix playlists, I do not want them, and often they annoy me when the first song is one I'd click on but I don't want to have to pay attention enough to kill it before the next song plays (since you cannot disable play next in playlists...)

Re: YouTube users get option to set their Shorts time limit to zero minutes

#110
This seems like progress but it doesn’t practically solve anything. It doesn’t solve that every kid in the US has largely unrestricted school accounts that parents have no control over. It doesn’t really prevent a kid from creating a new account or simply logging out and bypassing it. Shorts would need to be disabled for unauthenticated accounts or educational accounts by default.
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