this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2026
132 points (100.0% liked)

Technology

6466 readers
337 users here now

Which posts fit here?

Any news that are at least tangentially connected to the technology, social media platforms, informational technologies or tech policy.


Post guidelines

[Opinion] prefixOpinion (op-ed) articles must use [Opinion] prefix before the title.


Rules

1. English onlyTitle and associated content has to be in English.
2. Use original linkPost URL should be the original link to the article (even if paywalled) and archived copies left in the body. It allows avoiding duplicate posts when cross-posting.
3. Respectful communicationAll communication has to be respectful of differing opinions, viewpoints, and experiences.
4. InclusivityEveryone is welcome here regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, education, socio-economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, caste, color, religion, or sexual identity and orientation.
5. Ad hominem attacksAny kind of personal attacks are expressly forbidden. If you can't argue your position without attacking a person's character, you already lost the argument.
6. Off-topic tangentsStay on topic. Keep it relevant.
7. Instance rules may applyIf something is not covered by community rules, but are against lemmy.zip instance rules, they will be enforced.


Companion communities

!globalnews@lemmy.zip
!interestingshare@lemmy.zip


Icon attribution | Banner attribution


If someone is interested in moderating this community, message @brikox@lemmy.zip.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

In a 2025 deposition of John Harding, the Vice President of Engineering for YouTube Music and YouTube Premium, lawyers representing more than 10,000 plaintiffs confronted Harding about the apparent admission.

"Goal is not viewership, it's viewer addiction,” an unnamed YouTube employee noted in the email to others. The note appeared to be part of a collection of thoughts from something called “iOS Creator App review.”

top 8 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] arcine@jlai.lu 7 points 1 hour ago

Unfortunately works on me. I don't know how to quit 😅 at least I only watch long form, and with an adblocker, so they're probably losing money on me. But I just cannot stop, and it's a bit of a problem...

[–] ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.zip 15 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

I don't generally get addicted to things online and have always avoided yt shorts. Last couple months it somehow managed to sneak into my regular routine. Historically when I did find a rare watchable one I'd convert the link to not be the somehow even worse than the normal viewer.

How the fuck did they suck me in? I don't know how it started, I don't even like watching the fucking things. Now I'm considering blanket blocking yt because of it. Insidious bastards

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

Have you considered a platform like freetube that allows you to fully block shorts?

I’ve been using it for ages now (desktop application, I use it on Linux, works great), but other platforms for watching YouTube without ads are also likely to have “distraction-free” mode where all that obnoxious shit gets blocked or turned off, like when I view a creator I’m subscribed to the -only- thing that comes up are full-length videos. No community page, no shorts, no playlists and follows, nothing but videos which is what I’m there for.

You also get the perk of blocking ads and sponsored segments, self promotion, etc. so very nice to use.

It does break now and then when YouTube updates, but they typically get it working again pretty quickly.

[–] ArmoredThirteen@lemmy.zip 2 points 10 hours ago (4 children)

It seems to primarily be a problem when viewing stuff on my phone tbh, since my laptop is already basically in lockdown. I'm admittedly an old person when it comes to phones; millenial but I didn't decide to get one until like 2020. Any particular suggestions for something similar that could work well on android?

[–] fieryred001@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 hour ago

PipePipe works well on Android.

[–] Bazimon@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 hours ago

Using the ReVanced manager and microG you can patch a YouTube apk really easily to add things like ad block as well as the ability to block YouTube shorts popping up in your feed. It's amazing. Highly recommend. It's the only way I can enjoy YouTube on my phone any more.

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 6 hours ago

I hear good things about NewPipe

[–] ApathyTree@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

Unfortunately no, I’m not on android at the moment (much to my chagrin)

However, lots of people around here are super passionate about sharing exactly that information with people, and there’s a solid chance you’ll get an answer to that here if you give it some time. If not, or if you’d like to know now, you can always make a post about it somewhere like asklemmy and you’ll probably get lots of suggestions :)

Sorry I can’t help further with that one!