Tell HN: YouTube is making a TikTok junky out of me
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By now, we all know the buzzing feeling you experience in your head due to an overload of dopamine when you finally end your streak of swiping away short high-intensity videos. Be it in TikTok, Youtube shorts, or another similar platform that copied the aforementioned first one.
Personally, I am not a big fan of this format as it simply is too addicting, messes with my head, and eats up valuable time. Its algorithm mixes a lot of mediocre to bad stuff with actually good content for maximum viewing time. On Youtube, when not making use of youtube premium, you are sure to be served some additional ads apart from those not already embedded within the videos of content creators.
If I am honest, sometimes it is fun to get caught up, plus there is some quality content at times. However, that dopamine rush you get isn’t completely giving you the freedom of choice. It seems to create a new rush every time before the critical cooldown threshold is reached to take the more conscious decision of saying “now it has been enough”.
Even though I decided to uninstall TikTok after experiencing it briefly when it launched, it has now come to the app in which I view most of my content, that app being Youtube. That alone wouldn’t have been a problem, wasn’t it for the fact that the mobile Youtube app now actively tries to let you get caught up in that stream of Youtube Shorts. So much so that it actually distracts me away from the content I come to Youtube for in the first place…
It does so by remembering if the last video you have seen is a Youtube Short. If so, the next time you open the app, even if completely closed, it reopens immediately into a Youtube Shorts stream. If left in any other view inside the app, the app will open the homepage instead. Due to the increasing amount of Shorts available, the chances are that you are caught up in the stream sooner or later. When you finally come to your senses you just close the app, it being the only option to prevent the loop from continuing. When restarting the app, bam you’re in again… Feel free to give it a try yourself.
Not to say, the short video format doesn’t have its place or its qualities. I just don’t like the way they are being served currently next to other longer-form quality content. In my opinion, this is a chance for Youtube to be the better and more ethical video platform.