A simple solution to our social media addiction.
YouTube allows users to turn off their watch history within the app. When history is turned off, it no longer provides personalized suggestions on the homepage or in Shorts. So, I did it — I turned off my YouTube history.
Guess what happened next?
I’m no longer addicted to the app. I don’t jump into it to get a quick dopamine hit during my free time. Now, I use it more mindfully — I intentionally search for the videos I want to watch, rather than letting the algorithm force-feed me content. Phew.
Almost all social scientists around the world are now telling us that
using social media causes significant mental health problems in both
young people and adults.
So now I’m wondering — could turning off the history feature be a simple solution to a complex global problem? Let me explain.
Just imagine a world where social media giants allows us to opt out of their algorithms by turning off our history within the app then there is no algorithmic suggestions in our homepage. Phew. Basically, we can use these more mindfully. We can search for what we want to see rather than them showing us What to see.
This is definitely possible. I know they won’t do it. They will probably donate a few bucks to mental health charity and call it a day rather than implementing a safe space social media. Let it be.
They could however charge a premium to the user and let the market figure out how to and how not to use it.
Anyways, this is my simple solution that came to me one day as I was showering and thinking about a totally unrelated problem in my life.
That is it for today guys thanks for reading.