This study actually makes a lot of sense. I watch YouTube content while working out each day. My “subscriptions” are related to certain topics and hobbies that I engage in. However, there have been some channels that I unsubscribed from simply because I didn’t like the way they made me “feel”. Some content would be very toxic, would engage in shaming others, or would flat out be bullying behavior disguised as “just having fun”. That’s when I would unsubscribe and stop watching.
There are other channels that I still watch that show people’s lives. However, even these types of channels are starting to become potentially harmful. The content creators will use the terms “we” and “us” to make it sound like the viewer is an active participant or contributor. In reality, the viewer is the content creator’s enabler to be able to afford these supposedly lavish lives with nice houses, expensive cars, premium dining, designer clothes, etc. It reaches a point where it isn’t healthy to continually view this type of content as it can start to make you feel bad about yourself or feel less successful in life.
It is also amazing to see others commenting on videos praising the creator for their perpetual positivity, upbeat attitude, hard work, creativity, transparency, vulnerability, etc. These creators are largely actors, doing what they do to make money. They do what is needed to appeal to viewers and grow their channels. These creators are largely narcissists with an unhealthy need to share their lives with people. They are basically monetizing their narcissism. They veil it is a “community of followers” that they “love”, but the more I watch and learn and listen to these content creators the more I become almost disgusted by them and disappointed in myself for subscribing, watching, and contributing to their success. They only “love” people because they subscribe and generate revenue for them. They couldn’t care less about you as a person. They seemingly talk directly to you, but they don’t know you or remotely care about you as a person.
So yes, this study makes total sense. There are a few channels that haven’t yet reached this level for me, but I do find myself pulling away from more and more channels that I used to absolutely love simply because of the way I feel while watching them. Thankfully, I never got convinced to contribute to any on Patreon or start purchasing “merch”. That’s a whole other level of narcissism where these creators now want people to personally pay them for content and wear clothes emblazoned with their name/logo/channel name. That is simply excessive.
Faaake…. YT is amazing for those that are already lonely XD… years ago Jacksepticeye said in a video that he like hearing that people put his gaming videos on for background noise so people dont feel like they are alone..
Yt is an amazong platform when done correctly. It help people woth loneliness, anxieties, depression…..find a video on something youre genuinely interested in and theres 100s if not more people you can chat with about the same interest and others like it that could be something new to explore and new people to experience it with and not have the worrying of talking about interests that irl friends dont care about..
Youtube is full of all sorts of diverse content. But it’s the automated algorithms and perhaps soon to be A.I. powered intelligence that determines your likes and the type of content you’ve been watching. Then it feeds more and more of that content to you. If you let one video play into the next one it will feed you similar content. It will also suggest content over time in your home page.
So you watch depressing damaging content, you are going to be seeing more and more of it. I’ve found if you change what you are watching eventually the system changes but you still end up with reminder content slipped in now and then. You jump back into viewing that content and suddenly you are flooded with more of the same.
Therefore, I find myself being very cautious about curating what I watch, what I like and what I subscribe to on YouTube. Lately, I just bookmark some channels and watch them while logged out of my Google account.
This study actually makes a lot of sense. I watch YouTube content while working out each day. My “subscriptions” are related to certain topics and hobbies that I engage in. However, there have been some channels that I unsubscribed from simply because I didn’t like the way they made me “feel”. Some content would be very toxic, would engage in shaming others, or would flat out be bullying behavior disguised as “just having fun”. That’s when I would unsubscribe and stop watching.
There are other channels that I still watch that show people’s lives. However, even these types of channels are starting to become potentially harmful. The content creators will use the terms “we” and “us” to make it sound like the viewer is an active participant or contributor. In reality, the viewer is the content creator’s enabler to be able to afford these supposedly lavish lives with nice houses, expensive cars, premium dining, designer clothes, etc. It reaches a point where it isn’t healthy to continually view this type of content as it can start to make you feel bad about yourself or feel less successful in life.
It is also amazing to see others commenting on videos praising the creator for their perpetual positivity, upbeat attitude, hard work, creativity, transparency, vulnerability, etc. These creators are largely actors, doing what they do to make money. They do what is needed to appeal to viewers and grow their channels. These creators are largely narcissists with an unhealthy need to share their lives with people. They are basically monetizing their narcissism. They veil it is a “community of followers” that they “love”, but the more I watch and learn and listen to these content creators the more I become almost disgusted by them and disappointed in myself for subscribing, watching, and contributing to their success. They only “love” people because they subscribe and generate revenue for them. They couldn’t care less about you as a person. They seemingly talk directly to you, but they don’t know you or remotely care about you as a person.
So yes, this study makes total sense. There are a few channels that haven’t yet reached this level for me, but I do find myself pulling away from more and more channels that I used to absolutely love simply because of the way I feel while watching them. Thankfully, I never got convinced to contribute to any on Patreon or start purchasing “merch”. That’s a whole other level of narcissism where these creators now want people to personally pay them for content and wear clothes emblazoned with their name/logo/channel name. That is simply excessive.
This is stupid….I’m officially certain that “Binging on Studyfinds leads to loneliness, depression”. You guys make this crap up don’t you?
I binge watch YouTube because I’m bored and can’t get to sleep. I don’t even know anybody on there.
Faaake…. YT is amazing for those that are already lonely XD… years ago Jacksepticeye said in a video that he like hearing that people put his gaming videos on for background noise so people dont feel like they are alone..
Yt is an amazong platform when done correctly. It help people woth loneliness, anxieties, depression…..find a video on something youre genuinely interested in and theres 100s if not more people you can chat with about the same interest and others like it that could be something new to explore and new people to experience it with and not have the worrying of talking about interests that irl friends dont care about..
Youtube is full of all sorts of diverse content. But it’s the automated algorithms and perhaps soon to be A.I. powered intelligence that determines your likes and the type of content you’ve been watching. Then it feeds more and more of that content to you. If you let one video play into the next one it will feed you similar content. It will also suggest content over time in your home page.
So you watch depressing damaging content, you are going to be seeing more and more of it. I’ve found if you change what you are watching eventually the system changes but you still end up with reminder content slipped in now and then. You jump back into viewing that content and suddenly you are flooded with more of the same.
Therefore, I find myself being very cautious about curating what I watch, what I like and what I subscribe to on YouTube. Lately, I just bookmark some channels and watch them while logged out of my Google account.