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YouTube addiction, one month sober

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Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober

#151

Post by [deleted] »

edg5000 wrote: post #143
timeforcomputer wrote: post #122

I feel like something bad is happening and I am unsure how much of this is me being negative. I "quit" the internet in late 2018 due to severe addiction and years-long disengagement in my hobbies (reading, programming, thinking, music, art, ...) and only recently have started reintroducing it into my life, for example, catching up with what people do on YouTube, trying to get an idea of "what people are talking about…

With the larger platforms, the more you use the platform the more specific the feed or recommendations become. What you describe sounds indeed like the surface level feed that a new or logged out account would get. Ignore all feeds and search for specific things, such as collision detection. Then you will come across genuinely good channels which you can subscribe to. The feed will then no longer show those crappy su…

[deleted]

Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober

#152

Post by webdoodle »

mnky9800n wrote: post #144
webdoodle wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen the opposite. I drastically reduced my smartphone and online time a couple years before Covid, but completely ditched my phone at the end of 2019. It took a few years before I met anyone with my level of dedication, but now I meet them every few months. Most are tech or ex-tech employees, but some are just closer to retirement.

I have to many two factor authentications that for some reason only use Google or Microsoft apps. Also there's bankid but I guess that still can use a key fob for the time being. Otherwise I would be happy to get rid of my phone.

Admittedly, several services that require 2fa phone authentication had to be ditched as well. It was a hard decision, and took months of fighting before I finally just said, "If you require a phone, I don't require you." The choice was hard, but long-term I have much better life.

FYI - Slowly I've seen keyfobs with 1 time code generators replace phones as a 2fa system. For instance, etrade and ebay use them now.

https://us.etrade.com/security-center/securityid#tab_1

Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober

#153

Post by purpleblue »

I deleted TikTok and Instagram, and my screen time dropped by 4 hours a day. That's 28 hours a week. I didn't realize how much time I spent on it, but it makes sense because I would watch it as soon as I woke up and before I went to sleep. I was gobsmacked at how much time I saved.

Now I spend all that time playing Baldur's Gate 3.

Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober

#154

Post by gherkinnn »

YouTube's excessive ads (disabling adblock serves as a forcing function) and them no longer recommending stuff with the right settings applied solved the YT problem for me. While I've never shared OP's state, I too sunk too much time and attention on that platform.

It is still there for those rare occasions I need it. But I no longer get pulled in.

Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober

#156

Post by ryandrake »

themagician wrote: post #90
futureshock wrote: post #46

It’s bit weird, but I feel like this conversation about screen time and digital addiction dropped out of the public consciousness during Covid, never to return. Apple released their screen time features in 2018, so this issue was just starting to hit critical mass right as Covid hit and dumped us all deep down the digital rabbit hole. Now I notice even more social proof to keep going deeper into the digital life. Pub…

Social media is no longer just some activity you do. For many, it has become a way of life. Their income and livelihood relies on it. Many children growing up today aspire to be popular on social media. What happens on social media has become part of their core identity. It will only accelerate from here.

> Many children growing up today aspire to be popular on social media. What happens on social media has become part of their core identity.

They'll probably grow out of it. Half my high school class thought they were going to be major league baseball players or NFL players when they grew up. Now they're accountants and HVAC installers.

Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober

#157

Post by WheatMillington »

winternett wrote: post #146
futureshock wrote: post #46

It’s bit weird, but I feel like this conversation about screen time and digital addiction dropped out of the public consciousness during Covid, never to return. Apple released their screen time features in 2018, so this issue was just starting to hit critical mass right as Covid hit and dumped us all deep down the digital rabbit hole. Now I notice even more social proof to keep going deeper into the digital life. Pub…

It feels like I haven't logged onto it in ages... Chrome pushed an update that made me have to log in and do TFA each time I opened the browser, and that was a nail in the coffin. The best content on YouTube is berried behind a wall of Mr Beast and Pewdie Pie style fluffery that I can't find any real value in most of the time. They dictate what is favorable, and that ruins the entire experience for me. The search has…

>The best content on YouTube is berried behind a wall of Mr Beast and Pewdie Pie style fluffery that I can't find any real value in most of the time. They dictate what is favorable, and that ruins the entire experience for me. The search has been flooded with SEO title spam, which makes finding specific content damn near impossible and/or very tedious.

This is not my experience at all. The recommendations engine is what keeps Youtube as my #1 entertainment platform. My Youtube Recommendations ebb and flow, sometimes are better than others, but my feed absolutely never devolves into lowest-common-denominator super popular content, and is mostly dominated by small-to-medium sized channels in the categories that interest me.

Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober

#158

Post by rightbyte »

themagician wrote: post #90
futureshock wrote: post #46

It’s bit weird, but I feel like this conversation about screen time and digital addiction dropped out of the public consciousness during Covid, never to return. Apple released their screen time features in 2018, so this issue was just starting to hit critical mass right as Covid hit and dumped us all deep down the digital rabbit hole. Now I notice even more social proof to keep going deeper into the digital life. Pub…

Social media is no longer just some activity you do. For many, it has become a way of life. Their income and livelihood relies on it. Many children growing up today aspire to be popular on social media. What happens on social media has become part of their core identity. It will only accelerate from here.

> For many, it has become a way of life. Their income and livelihood relies on it

It would suprise me if one person in my 30k pop county lives of "social media". And I don't put the bar that high. Like atleast McDonalds pay.

Maybe one in 100 000 does? Concentrated to big cities. I have never seen any stats on this. Some quick searching just gave Forbes and other probably made up numbers.

Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober

#159

Post by laurentlb »

winternett wrote: post #146
futureshock wrote: post #46

It’s bit weird, but I feel like this conversation about screen time and digital addiction dropped out of the public consciousness during Covid, never to return. Apple released their screen time features in 2018, so this issue was just starting to hit critical mass right as Covid hit and dumped us all deep down the digital rabbit hole. Now I notice even more social proof to keep going deeper into the digital life. Pub…

It feels like I haven't logged onto it in ages... Chrome pushed an update that made me have to log in and do TFA each time I opened the browser, and that was a nail in the coffin. The best content on YouTube is berried behind a wall of Mr Beast and Pewdie Pie style fluffery that I can't find any real value in most of the time. They dictate what is favorable, and that ruins the entire experience for me. The search has…

My experience is that I first search for content I'm interested in. Then YouTube keeps recommending things that are related (in the same domain, or on the same channel).

I haven't seen any PewDiePie recommendation in years (to the point I even forgot him).

I don't really know what's actually popular on YouTube. All recommendations seem very personalized.

Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober

#160

Post by GaryNumanVevo »

Does anyone else not seem to be super susceptible to the dopamine/attention hacking that plagues modern social media? I watch YouTube occasionally, but I often run out of interesting stuff to watch, so I just go read a book or something. I have ADHD (non-medicated) so you think that this would be a nightmare for me.
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