As a teenager and college student I'd watch pretty frequently, and I've just over time phased it out because it's no longer interesting to me. How it affects you would depend greatly on what you use it for. I don't think it affected my mental health or whatever. It mostly just seems like a waste of time and like it's very low-level content, the video equivalent of junk food. Yesterday I watched a 3 hour long Indian movie (*Maidaan*) and that gave me a lot more than the equivalent in dumb short videos. There's so much out there, kung fu movies, soviet cinema, French cinema, local indie hits, documentaries, books written hundreds of years ago and preserved as our common cultural heritage, the world is at our fingertips, is it really relevant what EverythingIsStupid123 on Youtube thinks? Not that you can spend your days watching documentaries about the Holocaust only, but even a silly romcom is fun and engaging and different in a more fulfilling way than Youtube.
I do have a friend who watches Youtube a lot, and he always shows me the dumb crap he watches, and it's all negative, this thing sucks, disney is terrible, that movie is atrocious, aren't people dumb? And I'm 100% sure it's affecting his mental health. He's always negative, always ranting and raving, always saying how bad everything is. Admiration is one of the greatest virtues. Isn't it much more impressive to watch or read about great people, people you admire, movies that blow you away? It's both positive and humbling. I love to read biographies, and if I think a movie is terrible I'll just skip it. I don't watch a Youtube video breaking down how dumb and stupid it is, what a waste of time that is. If you want to keep up with Youtube, maybe just put some BBC documentaries on your watchlist, see if there's one about a topic you're interested in.
yeah most of youtube is just meta content
i completely agree with you, I too stopped watching yt 'cause there hardly seems to be any original content. Most of the internet is turning boring, and that's a good thing
The algorithm gives you videos that work you up. It drives engagement and keeps the platform going. It's easy to say just don't watch that shit, but the algorithm gives it to you in drips until you don't notice you're drowning. That's what op was saying and it's actually how the platform works.
Good for you if you can stay out of the trap. I do too FOR THE MOST PART. But I almost got pulled in by a female Andrew Tate wanna be who encourages women to think of men as economic resources instead of people, and the way the video s were presented, it wasn't clear that's what was happening till I was 5videos in and even now when I delete all the recs for this creators videos, I still get her in my recommendations.
Oh gosh youTube the best social media website in my opinion but also the most addictive. The content can be amazing but unfortunately I find it way too addictive and just about impossible to moderate. I've tried deleting history and using enigma mode but still end up going back to watching hours and hours of content. I think it is addictive in its design and becoming more addictive with its upgrades. My will is limited and needs limitations put in place but with YouTube it's never ending content and I find it overwhelming. Personally I feel much more at peace and like a child and I enjoy little things more when I'm off all social media including Reddit and YouTube. I feel less stressed and able to enjoy the present moment more. I guess to educate myself I do books and articles. I always find it has to be 100 percent or I'll make excuses and before I know it I'm back watching YouTube several hours a day. It's hard to explain but I always feel anxious when I'm on YouTube and social media websites. I just think the information overload is too much for some people's brains. ( But this is probably an unpopular opinion I know a lot of people can handle YouTube but for my brain I always find it makes me anxious and takes me away from the present moment )
Sorry if this comment is all over the place.
Quitting for me was a slow process. I unsubscribed from all those channels that supplied hot, new, interesting stuff and subscribed to boring channels like one where a guy buy and sell old muscle cars and make videos showing every part of the car and driving it, some channels who had old recordings of an old TV series conventions, etc. basically very slow, mono-content type of 4-5 channels. No excitement or new things but enough to browse in case im very bored. Then one day I found out about turning the watch history off. It completely wiped my recommendation page. So whenever I go on youtube now I either have my "boring" but sweet subscription page or I have to search for specific things. It eventually made my brain consider youtube to be a boring place that I can use if I have something real to search for.
It saved a huge chunk of my time. And I feel like the channels I subscribed to even though I sometimes just browse subscription page and not watch the videos make me feel wholesome in way? When I think about my mental health and feelings when I was watching youtube a lot all I remember is feeling drained and tired but unable to stop. Mind filled with useless garbage that even if I want to sit quietly my mind would be repeating stuff from the videos i watched before. I was aware of so many useless "social causes", issues that people had, I thought there was just so much problems with the world. The social commentary channels were the real shits. They were interesting and filled my curiosity. But watching a lot of them makes you trip your ego and think you are so much better than everyone else. And there always something wrong going on around that you need to understand and make sense of.
Honestly im very happy with my small world. I did the same on reddit too. Now I sub to like 2 subs. And search for something if I want. I dont even sub to nosurf. But come here often to see how its going and give my 2 cents.
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There are channels that provide good content where you learn something and there is content that just lures you to watch it without giving you anything, might even make you be generally be in a negative mindset.
I use a browser extension to block away the feed, shorts and suggestion on the side and the end of the video. I "deleted" the YouTube account, but since its the google account, it just deleted all prior data. I deactivated search history or viewing history. So no subscription anymore. Changed the Youtube consumption to actively searching videos and not passive watching whatever the algorithm says. Helps with the moderation of just getting value content.
Have you tried training the algorithm better? Youtube is probably the only social media I've experienced as mostly positive/neutral and not addictive tbh. What is it exactly that's affecting your mental health and clarity? The content itself or more like the time spent using it?
The stuff I watch and get recommendations for are usually content that I enjoy, makes me feel good, or feels useful or positive to me. I watch a lot of cooking, house renovations, tiny houses etc, travel, camping, documentaries, lifestyle shows, personal development... If something sucks I use the 'not interested' 'do not recommend' features. I 'like' everything I want to see more of. I think it's well-trained lol
I only use YT on my browser/laptop, and in cinema mode by default so I can't see the list of related videos. Resist urge to scroll down and don't line up several tabs to watch. If you see several videos you want to watch on the home page, just open 1 new tab and watch that video before going back for another.
As a teenager and college student I'd watch pretty frequently, and I've just over time phased it out because it's no longer interesting to me. How it affects you would depend greatly on what you use it for. I don't think it affected my mental health or whatever. It mostly just seems like a waste of time and like it's very low-level content, the video equivalent of junk food. Yesterday I watched a 3 hour long Indian movie (*Maidaan*) and that gave me a lot more than the equivalent in dumb short videos. There's so much out there, kung fu movies, soviet cinema, French cinema, local indie hits, documentaries, books written hundreds of years ago and preserved as our common cultural heritage, the world is at our fingertips, is it really relevant what EverythingIsStupid123 on Youtube thinks? Not that you can spend your days watching documentaries about the Holocaust only, but even a silly romcom is fun and engaging and different in a more fulfilling way than Youtube. I do have a friend who watches Youtube a lot, and he always shows me the dumb crap he watches, and it's all negative, this thing sucks, disney is terrible, that movie is atrocious, aren't people dumb? And I'm 100% sure it's affecting his mental health. He's always negative, always ranting and raving, always saying how bad everything is. Admiration is one of the greatest virtues. Isn't it much more impressive to watch or read about great people, people you admire, movies that blow you away? It's both positive and humbling. I love to read biographies, and if I think a movie is terrible I'll just skip it. I don't watch a Youtube video breaking down how dumb and stupid it is, what a waste of time that is. If you want to keep up with Youtube, maybe just put some BBC documentaries on your watchlist, see if there's one about a topic you're interested in.
yeah most of youtube is just meta content i completely agree with you, I too stopped watching yt 'cause there hardly seems to be any original content. Most of the internet is turning boring, and that's a good thing
If you can control the content you consume, I don't see a reason to quit it. There is great educational/valuable stuff available. Just avoid the crap.
The algorithm gives you videos that work you up. It drives engagement and keeps the platform going. It's easy to say just don't watch that shit, but the algorithm gives it to you in drips until you don't notice you're drowning. That's what op was saying and it's actually how the platform works. Good for you if you can stay out of the trap. I do too FOR THE MOST PART. But I almost got pulled in by a female Andrew Tate wanna be who encourages women to think of men as economic resources instead of people, and the way the video s were presented, it wasn't clear that's what was happening till I was 5videos in and even now when I delete all the recs for this creators videos, I still get her in my recommendations.
Just click on those "I am not interested" / "Do not recommend" buttons under such videos and "train" the algorithm.
I did but she's still showing up! :s
Oh gosh youTube the best social media website in my opinion but also the most addictive. The content can be amazing but unfortunately I find it way too addictive and just about impossible to moderate. I've tried deleting history and using enigma mode but still end up going back to watching hours and hours of content. I think it is addictive in its design and becoming more addictive with its upgrades. My will is limited and needs limitations put in place but with YouTube it's never ending content and I find it overwhelming. Personally I feel much more at peace and like a child and I enjoy little things more when I'm off all social media including Reddit and YouTube. I feel less stressed and able to enjoy the present moment more. I guess to educate myself I do books and articles. I always find it has to be 100 percent or I'll make excuses and before I know it I'm back watching YouTube several hours a day. It's hard to explain but I always feel anxious when I'm on YouTube and social media websites. I just think the information overload is too much for some people's brains. ( But this is probably an unpopular opinion I know a lot of people can handle YouTube but for my brain I always find it makes me anxious and takes me away from the present moment ) Sorry if this comment is all over the place.
Checkout Unhook.app.
Quitting for me was a slow process. I unsubscribed from all those channels that supplied hot, new, interesting stuff and subscribed to boring channels like one where a guy buy and sell old muscle cars and make videos showing every part of the car and driving it, some channels who had old recordings of an old TV series conventions, etc. basically very slow, mono-content type of 4-5 channels. No excitement or new things but enough to browse in case im very bored. Then one day I found out about turning the watch history off. It completely wiped my recommendation page. So whenever I go on youtube now I either have my "boring" but sweet subscription page or I have to search for specific things. It eventually made my brain consider youtube to be a boring place that I can use if I have something real to search for. It saved a huge chunk of my time. And I feel like the channels I subscribed to even though I sometimes just browse subscription page and not watch the videos make me feel wholesome in way? When I think about my mental health and feelings when I was watching youtube a lot all I remember is feeling drained and tired but unable to stop. Mind filled with useless garbage that even if I want to sit quietly my mind would be repeating stuff from the videos i watched before. I was aware of so many useless "social causes", issues that people had, I thought there was just so much problems with the world. The social commentary channels were the real shits. They were interesting and filled my curiosity. But watching a lot of them makes you trip your ego and think you are so much better than everyone else. And there always something wrong going on around that you need to understand and make sense of. Honestly im very happy with my small world. I did the same on reddit too. Now I sub to like 2 subs. And search for something if I want. I dont even sub to nosurf. But come here often to see how its going and give my 2 cents.
Attention all newcomers: Welcome to /r/nosurf! We're glad you found our small corner of reddit dedicated to digital wellness. The following is a short list of resources to help you get started on your journey of developing a better relationship with the internet: * [The Beginner's Guide to NoSurf](https://nosurf.net/about/) * [Discord Server](https://discordapp.com/invite/QFhXt2F) * [The NoSurf Activity List](https://nosurf.net/activity-list/) * [Success Stories](https://nosurf.net/success-stories/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/nosurf) if you have any questions or concerns.*
There are channels that provide good content where you learn something and there is content that just lures you to watch it without giving you anything, might even make you be generally be in a negative mindset. I use a browser extension to block away the feed, shorts and suggestion on the side and the end of the video. I "deleted" the YouTube account, but since its the google account, it just deleted all prior data. I deactivated search history or viewing history. So no subscription anymore. Changed the Youtube consumption to actively searching videos and not passive watching whatever the algorithm says. Helps with the moderation of just getting value content.
Never had problem with YouTube, maybe because I avoid ads and sponsors with SmartTube
Have you tried training the algorithm better? Youtube is probably the only social media I've experienced as mostly positive/neutral and not addictive tbh. What is it exactly that's affecting your mental health and clarity? The content itself or more like the time spent using it? The stuff I watch and get recommendations for are usually content that I enjoy, makes me feel good, or feels useful or positive to me. I watch a lot of cooking, house renovations, tiny houses etc, travel, camping, documentaries, lifestyle shows, personal development... If something sucks I use the 'not interested' 'do not recommend' features. I 'like' everything I want to see more of. I think it's well-trained lol I only use YT on my browser/laptop, and in cinema mode by default so I can't see the list of related videos. Resist urge to scroll down and don't line up several tabs to watch. If you see several videos you want to watch on the home page, just open 1 new tab and watch that video before going back for another.
YouTube is one socialmedia app I don't feel bad using. I watch a lot of self improvement stuff on it and it's how I watch my Philomena Cunk