Sponsorblock for YouTube. It automatically skips over parts of videos where they try to get you to play Raid Shadow Legends.
This + DeArrow. DeArrow replaces clickbaity titles and thumbnails with better titles submitted by the community. I wouldn’t ever use youtube without it again. With this setup I don’t even want to watch most videos anymore, which is a good thing, because let’s be real, youtube is a big waste of time.
let’s be real, youtube is a big waste of time
I see people say this a lot, especially on the fediverse, and it makes me wonder why people think youtube is a “waste of time” when youtube’s uses are what the user makes of it.
I primarily use youtube for learning things. There are so many thousands of hours of useful, educational content on youtube that I find the suggestion that the entire platform is useless clickbait to be reductive and disingenuous.
Sure, there are channels I watch for typical mind-numbing content like Let’s Plays and such, but I wouldn’t suggest that youtube is wholly a waste of time just because there’s plenty of mindless content on it.
Just like Reddit or Lemmy, I can create an account and subscribe to a bunch of dumb shitposting communities, but I can also subscribe to a bunch of interesting hobbyist/intrigue communities.
How to reduce time on Youtube or make it more enjoyable
- avoid shorts completely (revanced)
- avoid reaction videos
- avoid any video which has someone with a mouth open or just making a ridiculous face
- avoid videos with clickbaity thumbnails/titles (duh) no matter how much you like the creator
- avoid videos which have “watch till the end” in the title
- [Important] watch channels with moderate number of subs and views
if you’re going for ultimate privacy… none, ironically.
I disagree on that one. Ad blocking and tracking blocking will be more private.
