Offline wrote: Sun Apr 20, 2025 5:27 pm
On desktop I downloaded the extension DF YouTube so I don't see the recommendations and removes all the videos on the homepage. It's been immensely helpful from keeping from falling down an endless rabbit hole of youtube videos.
Since I posted this I went a step further and blocked YouTube altogether and have relayed only on RSS and mpv to get the content from the People I enjoy. While there is the occasional Slip up where I unblock it and forget to Block it again, and I slip in the Algorithm for an Hour.
Stefen_Maxwell wrote: Mon Apr 21, 2025 3:25 am
I have had to completely block Youtube on my laptop. It has been that way for the past few days, and I never thought I would be feeling withdrawal issues, but I am. It is freaking crazy. I never grew up with an iPad since they weren't invented yet, but I have become an iPad adult and it is not fun.
So yeah, no more videos for me for a while. I did the same with reddit and I have been checking discord and here more than is healthy. I think I need a no tech detox.
Yeah, withdrawal comes surprisingly hard with YouTube, I never realized how many Hours I spent on watching YouTube until I actually blocked it. It really is an addiction. What helped me is getting myself a good book and reading that. And finding Projects to work on. Also during the worst of it I was especially Active on Forums like here and Melonland. If that is particularly better than other Social Media I don't know, but it at least it softened the blow form me. And I felt more fulfilling then watching YouTube or doing any other Socials.
I am Human, and everyone who says otherwise is lying.
Honestly, the only thing that saved the smartphone for me was leaving social media entirely, downloading NewPipe, and using an RSS feed reader for any news and blogs I still wanted to access.
Now mine gets used a not-intrusive amount of time per day (about an hour and a half according to my time tracking app), and most of that is me using it in ways that help me, like reading books or having conversations with friends via Signal.
I figure if I would happily spend 90 minutes a day reading a book and/or writing letters to friends, I'm okay with doing those things digitally.
+1 for RSS feeds. I didn't have one for a little while (I've been busy making the new video), and I just got NewsFlash up and running on my laptop and I've been trying to catch up on the forum.
I very much vibe with what y'all are saying in here. I think for me, it was notifications. That was never a thing when I was growing up, and now, it's constant. If it has a notification, I have manually turned it off, and if it dares make a peep I don't expect, that thing goes away.
My wife and I were recently reflecting on a time when there was 1 computer in the house, and everyone in the family had an account on it, and was allowed to use it for 30 minutes a day after school. I remember having a kitchen timer set when I sat down, and I'd check the forums I liked, I'd hop around on MySpace, and I'd chat with some of my school chums on AIM or Yahoo messenger. Then, that pesky ring would occur, and I'd plea for just 5 more minutes, but alas, it was time to do something else.
That restriction was really helpful, and I've caught myself recently falling into some bad habits with tech. I'm so glad I got rid of my smart phone, I can't imagine how much harder it would be to do a reset of my tech usage with all of the worlds information in my pocket. I suspect it's always going to cycle around from time to time - I mean, I make YouTube videos, it's inevitable. But, I'm not gonna beat myself up about it - I'm just gonna make the changes I know I need to make when I realize "oop! I'm a little deep right now, time to back off."
