I was scrolling in YouTube shorts last night and after 30 minutes of scrolling a window came up saying “Do you need help with social media addiction? Click here.”
Now the first sign of an addict is that they don’t admit they have a problem. Maybe I have a problem. Lets find out. Another sign you are addicted is that it impacts negatively and unhelpful on other aspects of your life. That doesn’t seem to be true for me. I watch some YT shorts and then I go to bed.
In short, with Shorts I think I am not addicted. Does it help that I might spend an hour scrolling through it at times? Probably not. There is probably something better I could be doing with my time. Still I have found very interesting and educational things with Shorts, and for me it is what StumbleUpon used to be.
People like discovering random content that they like. It is rewarding and surprising and I think that is why people get addicted. The random rewards that come with behavior. Should I stop using YouTube Shorts. I have used it less and less. It continues to have less useful content. Too much AI slop and other things. So I am using it less. Still I find it more effective than regular YT content to share.
The next time I see that message I am going to stop and ask myself is there is something I could do that would be more enjoyable. It is easy to get stuck doing what is easy and not what is helpful.