YouTube Shorts Are Like Crack
The YouTube Premium experience is extremely good. No ads, the site loads super quick, and YouTube even put up a "Skip" button when there's an advert detected within the video, from the creator.
It's nice. So nice that I've found myself looking more and more at stupid, pointless shorts whenever I get 5 minutes spare. This has result in my screen time going through the roof. Not to mention pissing my wife off as every time she looks at me, I have my phone in my hand, which isn't like me.
Take a look at these usage stats for 3 previous weeks, they're ridiculous:
I like to watch YouTube in bed if I decide I don't want to read, but I never had the app on my phone before. When I signed up for Premium, I put the app on my phone too.
Big mistake!
The worst part is that most of what I watch on my phone is absolute drivel in the form of Shorts. They're so bad that I often reduce the sound so my wife doesn't hear, as I'm actually embarrassed at the content in them!
So why the fuck am I watching them, dear reader? I have no idea!
I removed the YouTube app from my phone on Monday and I already feel better. I'm not wasting hours on my phone, my battery lasts for days again, and my wife isn't pissed off at me. Win, win, win.
Previously, I never understood how people can spend so much time doom scrolling on platforms like YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, or TikTok. Now I do - it creeps up on you!
If you want my advice, remove the apps from your device, as they're really not healthy. Well, they're not for me at least.