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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

#161

Post by tveita »

rob74 wrote: post #114
chii wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

These types of content takes a long time to produce Unless they're AI slop, of course. Between shorts and AI slop, worthwhile content on YouTube will soon become almost impossible to find...

Honestly I'd sometimes like a checkbox to ignore any results uploaded after, say 2023. Or else to only see 'verified non-AI' content. There is nothing I'd ever search Youtube for where an AI generated video would be an acceptable answer.

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

#162

Post by dlopes7 »

jmacd wrote: 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…

I went ahead and turned my youtube history off, I only see my subscriptions and subscription shorts.

I get zero recommendations of new/related videos (It breaks the algorithm) and it can't remember at what point of a video I was when I left it, but it is a very cheap price to pay for the shorts brainrot

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

#163

Post by noisy_boy »

shmoogy wrote: post #58
noisy_boy wrote: post #38

If they were actually serious, they would add an option in the Family Link app to set time limit for shorts for children.

They did add it, it explicitly says "Scrolling is paused after time's up but they may still see individual Shorts" I added 15 min timer for my kids today, not as good as blocking them entirely from even being seen .. but at least it's something.

There is no such setting I can see in Family Link. Not per-device setup, Family Link.

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

#164

Post by runevault »

rjbwork wrote: post #117
runevault wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...)

It's not a product where you are the user. Your attention is the product being sold to advertisers and the videos are a harvesting/production mechanism. It is not in the interests of either YT or the advertisers to allow you to opt out of features that are proven to be lucrative for eyeballs.

The thing that is funny about it is at least with the mixes, it does actively make me engage less because there are videos I would click on if they were not being tied into a mix, but because they are I actively choose not to open the video and let the song play.

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

#165

Post by trinsic2 »

alex1138 wrote: post #155
trinsic2 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You sure you don't want to add your phone number? I makes verification easier next time you want to upload a video.

I was referring to Google+. I don't know if you mean something else like Facebook, which is no less abusive than Google+ ever was People seemed to like Google+ but a) nymwars lead to dangerous situations (although no less dangerous than Facebook's graph search) for people that don't want to reveal their real names but also b) the merging of accounts ruined some people's Youtube channels. Zuckerberg is so much of a co…

I know. I was joining in on the joke, I think I just made that one up though. Im pretty sure youtube asks that If you upload a video and don't have a phone number on file

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

#166

Post by alex1138 »

trinsic2 wrote: post #165
alex1138 wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was referring to Google+. I don't know if you mean something else like Facebook, which is no less abusive than Google+ ever was People seemed to like Google+ but a) nymwars lead to dangerous situations (although no less dangerous than Facebook's graph search) for people that don't want to reveal their real names but also b) the merging of accounts ruined some people's Youtube channels. Zuckerberg is so much of a co…

I know. I was joining in on the joke, I think I just made that one up though. Im pretty sure youtube asks that If you upload a video and don't have a phone number on file

Sorry!

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

#167

Post by mcotton »

brcmthrowaway wrote: post #79
mcotton wrote: post #78

I had to write a Chrome extensions to hide Shorts. it has been working great for me. https://github.com/mcotton/remove_yt_shorts

Vibe coded?

Yup and in my opinion it is a great use case for it. Faster to generate my own extension than to trust something already in the store. Not critical enough to matter if it failed and very low threat surface.

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

#168

Post by noisy_boy »

noisy_boy wrote: post #163
shmoogy wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They did add it, it explicitly says "Scrolling is paused after time's up but they may still see individual Shorts" I added 15 min timer for my kids today, not as good as blocking them entirely from even being seen .. but at least it's something.

There is no such setting I can see in Family Link. Not per-device setup, Family Link.

I stand corrected - there is a Time Management setting under Controls -> YouTube.

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

#169

Post by 01jonny01 »

leptons wrote: post #20
savanaly wrote: 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…

"Shorts" is the #1 reason I switched to the SmartTube app on my Chromecast. No more Shorts. It also has other great features that are well beyond what the Youtube app lets you do to customize the expernience. And then I realized, it also blocks all the ads. I was a Youtube subscriber, but they alienated me with their "Shorts", so I switched apps, and then I cancelled my subscription. Most of big tech is too big. It's…

Yep i use skipvids.com to avoid shorts. I found myself endlessly scrolling like a junky

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

#170

Post by subpixel »

subpixel wrote: post #69
thedeep_mind wrote: post #19

I removed the YT app from my phone because of all the addicting/simulating UX and hooking content. It was eating up my quiet/thinking time, and led to brainfog and brainrot. And then, the blame is being put on me as the user who has self control issues. I found that very twisted. Some responsiblity is mine, sure. But having an army of PMs and engineers whose only job is to keep users on the platform, longer and more…

I've deleted the app from my phone. When I want to watch YT I open Brave, which blocks shorts and promoted videos in search. As an added benefit watching videos feels like a slight chore and is not frictionless. On my Mac I also use Brave and have allowlisted only the YouTube domain and Google auth. No shorts, no search spam, and just slightly inconvenient.

Update: watching YT in a browser on iOS is completely enshittified. I am giving up and actually looking into sideloading an app that kills shorts.
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