I think we would also do well to consume less content frankly. I’m closing in on two years since I’ve stopped viewing YouTube videos, and watching creators on platforms like Nebula or just buying indie media has been fine enough honestly. I also donate a fair bit to a creative focused PeerTube instance for my short videos.
Don’t take this as an all or nothing call though. Reducing reliance on the YouTube monopoly for your eyes, and being more adversarial to YouTube to any degree more than before is a net positive. Run ad blockers, use alternative front ends like Invidious, directly download videos with YT-DLP, and redirect your content consumption to more friendly platforms (or just reduce watch time in general). There is no true alternative to YouTube, but that doesn’t mean we should throw in the towel, or refuse to reclaim any bit we can back.
I’m right there with you. I try to grab important or favorite videos while I can to stash on my server for future enjoyment, and I run extensions that block the recommendation feed, ad block, as well as anti-clickbalt (shows random thumbnail from middle of video) when I do use it.
That algorithm is POWERFUL. Blocking the front page and “more like this” or whatever feeds has cut down on my rabbit hole stumbling almost entirely. (I’ll occasionally disable it to find new stuff)
I notice so much of it anymore is just content farming, stuff that exists only in the context of the content business, generating views and courting sponsors. Even though it can be entertaining still, it feels empty.
Genuine human expression is increasingly hard to find on that platform. I mostly use it for those ultra long music playlists and art and game dev stuff. Gotta be careful there too though! So many people are just wannabe gurus selling unattainable saccharine pipe dream lifestyles instead of actually doing the work.
I also donate a fair bit to a creative focused PeerTube instance for my short videos.
I think we would also do well to consume less content frankly. I’m closing in on two years since I’ve stopped viewing YouTube videos, and watching creators on platforms like Nebula or just buying indie media has been fine enough honestly. I also donate a fair bit to a creative focused PeerTube instance for my short videos.
Don’t take this as an all or nothing call though. Reducing reliance on the YouTube monopoly for your eyes, and being more adversarial to YouTube to any degree more than before is a net positive. Run ad blockers, use alternative front ends like Invidious, directly download videos with YT-DLP, and redirect your content consumption to more friendly platforms (or just reduce watch time in general). There is no true alternative to YouTube, but that doesn’t mean we should throw in the towel, or refuse to reclaim any bit we can back.
I’m right there with you. I try to grab important or favorite videos while I can to stash on my server for future enjoyment, and I run extensions that block the recommendation feed, ad block, as well as anti-clickbalt (shows random thumbnail from middle of video) when I do use it.
That algorithm is POWERFUL. Blocking the front page and “more like this” or whatever feeds has cut down on my rabbit hole stumbling almost entirely. (I’ll occasionally disable it to find new stuff)
I notice so much of it anymore is just content farming, stuff that exists only in the context of the content business, generating views and courting sponsors. Even though it can be entertaining still, it feels empty.
Genuine human expression is increasingly hard to find on that platform. I mostly use it for those ultra long music playlists and art and game dev stuff. Gotta be careful there too though! So many people are just wannabe gurus selling unattainable saccharine pipe dream lifestyles instead of actually doing the work.
This sounds neat! Any recommendations? :)