This is true. Many people I know have uninstalled TikTok because it is too addictive, but no one ever does that with YouTube shorts.

Wrong. YouTube shorts ruined the app for me. No way to disable them.

Not even with parental controls.

I'm kinda OK with my kids using Youtube, but I don't want them getting sucked into the infinite pool of shit that is Shorts. But I can't block it even with parental controls.

There are browser extensions that block shorts. You can also block all algorithmic suggestions. I uninstalled the YouTube app ages ago and wish I'd done it sooner.

yeah enhancer for youtube was a lifesaver

another reason i hate internet becoming predominantly app-mediated.

I uninstalled the YouTube app too! Without the app, it’s easier to use YouTube more intentionally

How feasible is YouTube Kids? Honest question.

I have set up YT Kids account for a young relative and manually approved many channels and hundreds of videos. This is one way you can block Shorts, with the added benefit it’s no longer an infinite feed.

ReVanced on Android lets you remove shorts from the app.

NewPipe and Tubular also lack the continuous video feed feature, so you can watch Shorts if someone sends you a link, but they're just like regular videos.

Shorts, Instagram Reels and whatever Facebook calls its copy of it.

All of them are so bad it's not worth it.

YouTube essentially does what every big stupid US-based social media algorithm does: If you like cat videos, it serves you more and more cat videos.

Because YT is longform content and the UI isn't a scrolling feed it's OK. I appreciate the different-ness than TikTok (which is why YouTube shorts is kind of annoying actually)

TikTok's algorithm gives you more of what you like, too. But it also feeds you just... random stuff. Content adjacent to your hobbies. Or content that seems to be somewhat popular with people who frequent the niches you frequent. Feeding you a lot of uninteresting videos is low risk; user's still appreciate the variety even when the algo isn't on point.

"My algo has gone off the deep end" is a common trope amongst TikTok users. Bc every now and then TikTok would pull in a lot of new/unrelated stuff for you to check out. And you just scroll by the stuff that isn't of interest. This is how its algo gets good; it's a UX heuristic as much as an algo one.

It's an important distinction because it exposes users to new content, which is fun. YT doesn't do that as much, so YT's content recs can be dull as paint some times.