Is it possible once you are so deep in the trenches? I am not just referring to the obvious ones like tiktok and instagram reels, but even youtube videos. At this point I feel like my will isn't strong enough, otherwise I would just close the tab, right? Nothing's forcing me to click on the next video. I want to be able to do things without needing something running in the background, it seems I can't handle doing anything in silence. While I'm filling my head with nonsense, it's causing me to do things more poorly and making me unable to self-reflect. Anyone else here struggling with this?

I thankfully have never fallen into the grips of shorts/reels/tiktok, I think these are by far the most evil forms of content available. I'll find myself occasionally watching some stupid youtube content but most of the time it is either music or dialogue sort of videos similar to n0thanky0u. It has been really helpful fully switching to invidious instead of using the youtube site. Not having an account means you dont have the algorithm feeding you slop endlessly. You have to have an actual purpose in mind when searching. I do still sometimes get that itch for dopamine. The difference is with Invidious I will sit there for a little while before realising there is actually nothing I want to watch. I would suggest using Invidious/piped or going a step further and physically removing yourself from any sort of device with an internet connection while trying to get things done.

i have. sometimes i just have to keep it in the front of my mind that i need to not be doing something. i start by going "i will not do X" and if i relapse i force myself to stop. i also try to find a replacement. "instead of X i should do Y". to change habits (esp ones like watching vids) are an effort that takes concentration and dedication to remind yourself to stay off it. best of luck anon.

>>2
ohh this invidious thing looks neat, I'll try it out. I use an extension to turn off the recomendations on youtube and that helps too, but I still scroll endlessly through my subscriptions. For a while, I thought I needed something educational to listen to so at least it's not all nonsense, but I found out any input when I'm trying to do something is bad for my concentration and I have to quit it all together. If I absolutely need something, music is not too bad, but I go on youtube for all my music and that's where I fall into the trap of random videos.

have come to understand that watching the same 4 channels that post every day or have an endless quality backlog makes you hate short-form content like nothing else, it also makes u apreciate the small details like tv used to do

>>3
yea, practicing mindfulness is very important.
>>5
uhh... I didn't know there are channels like that. Examples?

>>2

YouTube has one benefit, that's not found neither on Piped or Invidious — commenting. I watch some small time YouTubers and due to the fact they're small, they will mindfully answer to all of the stupid remarks or ideas that popped up in your head.

>>6 it depends on what your hobbies are if you're gonna like these

vander and itz_vicky are apex related channels

the late Jennifer brooks used to host a brilliant litterature channel

patrick boyle and northernlion vods are both bald men that talk very funny
patrick especially has a great backlog

Anton Petrov, asianometry and just have a think are sience news channels i like to pretend to know what they are talking about

my original point was actually that the more you watch the same and enjoy it, the less likely it is you seek new things to watch all the time

hey op, i was stuck in a similar predicament regarding short youtube videos that would pop up in my recommended. i ended up wasting a lot of time because of them. the solution i found was a drastic one, i stopped going on youtube altogether and put in place a few measures to discourage me from going back. my web browser is not on my task bar, i tucked it away into the start menu, and i use firefox's permanent private browsing mode, which makes it so that i would have to sign into youtube every time i want to visit it. it's been a few months now, i no longer feel any desire to use youtube to watch short videos. i'll sign in from time to time to check for new uploads from the channels i'm subscribed to but that's it.

make friends and talk to them

>>10

i wanna make friends but im not very keen on using propietary software to do that... i dont have a vpn and i dont want my butthole to be stretched out so i just dual boot windows whenever i want to play with friends online... kinda isolating my friends usually dont message me when i want them to i have to make them hang out with me, sometimes i get really depressed about that, but i just think about not caring which works for a brief moment.., i suck at talking to and trying to get my thoughts into words its always a challenge with me. i really agree with n0thanky0u saying that language is inherently limited, i also dont trust anybody which is funny in retrospective but kinda terrifying

i use Unhook on firefox to block it from the homepage on yt. i jus found Image Video Block extntion and block all videos now, n jus listen to the audio. it works on shorts too. dont blaem urself, blame dum cumpanies manpulating psyhology for muney

Good points. It's best to abstain from youtube for the most part, and talk to friends that will give you way more valuable input than any internet video ever will.
>>12
this image video block thing is great, now I can listen to music in peace without staring at the screen or getting sucked into whatever wacko thumbnails. thx!

block youtube in your hosts file

>>14
In case anyone is wondering
cd /etc/
sudo (your text editor) hosts
add this line at the bottom - youtube.com 0.0.0.0

>>15
i wont be doing this because i have an ounce of self control

>>15
no idea what that means

>>16
Wow you are tough!