I had to delete my Youtube App - How Youtube Shorts destroyed my life (at least, a little tiny bit)

[Mystorius_]

I just pulled the plug on my iOS youtube app, and I don't how I feel about it.

 

I used to watch a lot of youtube videos daily. According to the analysis of my watch history about half is entertainment and half is educational. iOS screen time tells me I used to use the youtube app about 17h per week on average.t

That changed a lot since youtube put the "shorts" button directly in the "home" area and even added a new category into its app. My watch time increased from 17h to 22h in the following week,
then 26h and for this week I am at 27h 17min. I also look through my watch history and, kindly, youtube bundles up the amount of shorts seen. I watch 413 in one go, and I don't even remember a single thing I saw.

 

I know this is not something new, "doom scrolling" has been around for quite some time, however, I don't have this problem with Instagram (I only use the app about 30min per week on average) and I just never installed TickTock.
I like youtube, I want to watch entertaining and educational videos, but I don't want to waste 10h of my life scrolling through shorts. But I can't help myself.

 

I decided to uninstall the youtube app and only watch videos on my pc. I hope, was the shorts experience is quite bad in the browser, I won't fall into the same trap.

 

Had anyone else same experience in the last couple of weeks since youtube put shorts in front of everything? 
Does anyone know if there are third-party youtube apps for iOS that just don't have shorts "enabled"? Would it be possible to make a browser extension that would just remove the all shorts content from the youtube homepage like add-removers do that with ads?

 

Sorry if this is not the correct category for this discussion topic.

[Shimejii]

Youtube shorts = Tiktok. Its pretty much the same as what vine was, highly addictive short video format stuff that can just get you stuck watching for hours if you arent very mindful with it. They are designed to keep you for as long as possible.

[Neroon]

As someone who always hated people who have the attention span of a goldfish, and kept changing the channel every 5 seconds, I absolutely hate how Tiktok is a thing, and how YT is pushing this shit on us.

 

I don't want it, I want proper content, I don't mind 20 minute+ videos.

 

I definitely think shorts should be removable or have it's own section, but they way they push it, is highly problematic.

[Mystorius_]

Totally agree and I would say so fare I stayed on the 'good side' however if the short are directly put into my feed, I don't seem to be able to not 'click' them  

[zkk]

I had the same thing happen to me. The shorts are everywhere you go, sometimes you cant avoid them because it might have some good information but then you get addicted to other shorts after that one. ITs why I deleted tiktok but I honestly cant delete my youtube bc I learn alot of stuff.

 

short story short, shorts are like tiktok 

[CBojorges]

I just ignore shorts. After a while, YouTube's app removes that first row of shorts. I guess it ends up learning that I ain't clicking on that digital crack and stops suggesting them at all.

[Neroon]

Btw for those who use Android. Youtube Vanced allows you to remove shorts from the frontpage. No idea of Revanced does this as well.

[Erioch]

I never use the app and I don't watch shorts so, no, it hasn't affected me at all.

[GuiltySpark_]

I use the app all the time and simply just don't click shorts. Hasn't been a problem.

[Lurking]

On android, I use Adblock browser to watch YT. that deletes ads.

 

Shorts are the new plaque! I do the following:

- unsubscribe from channels that have a large ratio of shorts

- most of the time I only watch what I subscribe to. I only run out of subscriptions only at home on the PCs I have (living room etc.). Much easier to use than a phone (app, or phone browser)

 

YT suggestions can be improved:

- only subscribe to channels you really like. Watch a few videos of a new to you channel before subscribing. 

- select the "don't recommend this channel" for ones you don't like

- watch the videos you like to the end, and like them

- Don't watch videos that you are not likely to like (probably hard to know before watching, but if they have bombastic titles like "10 best....", or "you need to know this... before...", I usually don't like them

- if you end up watching one you don't like, make sure to do the "don't recommend this channel" or dislike it 

- YT uses all of the above to find out what you like. So if YT keeps suggesting KKK videos to you, you should re-consider what you watch and like

 

After a short while, the algorithm will be much better. 

[Dedayog]

Speaking of useless shorts, can we get less of this Bad Baby ass slapping retarded wanna be comedian bullshit?  How about scale back the stupid and add more info?  Thanks!

 

 

[ecopengi]

I also have an issue with going down the shorts rabbit hole... The problem with me is that YouTube figured out that I like quick educational content and it started to put a lot of these really interesting historical shorts on my feed. I just wished that more content creators would post short "regular videos" on the subject rather than ONLY on shorts. But alas...shorts are an effective way of getting views with minimal effort.

[Mark Kaine]

The bad news is, as far i know (i haven't used the app in,  5 years or so) the browser version of yt is nearly identical , so deleting the app (wait, you can do that? ) isnt really going to help much.

 

22 minutes ago, ecopengi said:

shorts are an effective way of getting views with minimal effort.

no, shorts is the thing you put under your trousers !

 

or that Bart eats!

 

Do people still watch the Simpsons or is that too boomer? (lol)

 

[ecopengi]

3 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

The bad news is, as far i know (i haven't used the app in,  5 years or so) the browser version of yt is nearly identical , so deleting the app (wait, you can do that? ) isnt really going to help much.

 

no, shorts is the thing you put under your trousers !

 

or that Bart eats!

 

Do people still watch the Simpsons or is that too boomer? (lol)

 

YouTube also recommends a lot of Simpsons shorts as well lol

[suicidalfranco]

not sure if you can do it on iOS, but just remove/hide shorts on youtube? 

Didi that, cause i was tired of having my recommended page cluttered with shorts. Now it looks as it's supposed to look, just videos that might interest me and nothing else.

[Sarra]

You can use uBlock or Adblock to block shorts on a Firefox/Chrome/Chromium browser. I did that, and dear god, YT is so much better without shorts.

[Mystorius_]

4 minutes ago, Sarra said:

You can use uBlock or Adblock to block shorts on a Firefox/Chrome/Chromium browser. I did that, and dear god, YT is so much better without shorts.

Oh really, that's awesome. Do you happen to know a guide that explains how to do it ? 

[Sarra]

2 minutes ago, Mystorius_ said:

Oh really, that's awesome. Do you happen to know a guide that explains how to do it ? 

 

[ForboJack]

Ever tried Youtube Revanced?

[wasab]

Am I the only one who always skip those short videos?

[da na]

On 11/6/2022 at 3:14 PM, Neroon said:

As someone who always hated people who have the attention span of a goldfish, and kept changing the channel every 5 seconds, I absolutely hate how Tiktok is a thing, and how YT is pushing this shit on us.

 

I don't want it, I want proper content, I don't mind 20 minute+ videos.

 

I definitely think shorts should be removable or have it's own section, but they way they push it, is highly problematic.

I feel the same way, I can't stand when people watch tiktok without headphones in public places.

[Erioch]

11 hours ago, wasab said:

Am I the only one who always skip those short videos?

Nope.

[Kid.Lazer]

Good on you for having the mental wherewithal to first recognize you had an issue, and then also taking steps to remediate it. That alone shows you have a fair amount of discipline, even if your Youtube watch history says otherwise.

 

As I get older (37), I realize I missed the whole tiktok/shorts boat, and it never really caught my attention at any point. That isn't to say I don't have my own issues with Youtube, though. I certainly watch it far to often (and not usually for educational purposes), and It's something I need to work on myself.

 

As other have mentioned, I too use Youtube Vanced. While I can block certain things, I think it's ability to block sponsors, ads, and other garbage has made my watch time actually get worse as the commercials aren't there to dissuade me from watching further.

[Just that Mario]

On 11/7/2022 at 1:12 AM, Shimejii said:

Youtube shorts = Tiktok. Its pretty much the same as what vine was, highly addictive short video format stuff that can just get you stuck watching for hours if you arent very mindful with it. They are designed to keep you for as long as possible.

TikTok has a far better implementation though. YouTube shorts = short youtube video with controls removed. When you copy link to the video and open in new tab, it opens as a normal video.

What annoys me about YT shorts is that home page is full of "shorts" of chicks. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind looking at grills, but kind of want to see other stuff on YT.

[Neroon]

4 hours ago, Just that Mario said:

What annoys me about YT shorts is that home page is full of "shorts" of chicks. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind looking at grills, but kind of want to see other stuff on YT.

Well apparently, that's what you look for the most/longest.

I just scrolled through like 20 vids, and only 1 video of specifically a chick, which was Lady Gaga (no clue why, I don't watch her stuff), and while there was some other random stuff in there from men, most of it aligned with video content I watch.