YouTube is now one of the biggest timesucks on the internet. You’ll head to YouTube with the intention of watching one specific video, and three hours later you’ll have a viewing history filled with cute cats, daft dogs, and memorable memes.
Having spent years tweaking the site to get you to watch more videos, YouTube has decided too much of anything is a bad thing. Including YouTube itself. So, as part of its Digital Wellness initiative, YouTube is now asking you to consider watching fewer videos.
How to Take a Break From YouTube
To this end, YouTube has rolled out a new feature called Take a Break. This lets you tell the YouTube app to remind you to take a break after watching videos for a certain length of time. It should go without saying that it’s set to Never by default.
To opt-in to Take a Break, just open the YouTube app on Android or on iOS, click on your profile in the top right-hand corner, and then click Settings. Find “Remind me to take a break” and select a time (between 15 minutes and 180 minutes) from the dropdown menu.
? Time to take a break?
Starting today, we’re updating the YouTube mobile app with features that help everyone understand their tech usage, disconnect when needed, and create healthy habits. Read more here: https://t.co/2uREFV8rMm pic.twitter.com/hXDwfGUhqe
— YouTube (@YouTube) May 8, 2018
Now, YouTube will remind you to take a break after you’ve been watching for the time indicated. You can choose to heed the warning and shut YouTube, or dismiss the reminder and carry on wasting your life watching PewDiePie playing terrible video games.
Take a Break is just one of YouTube’s new features. You can also disable notifications for set periods of time, and/or receive a digest instead. And the app will soon show you how long you’ve watched YouTube for, helping you to cut down your viewing time.
We’re All Addicted to Technology
While it may seem strange for YouTube to want you to watch fewer videos, tech companies appear to have realized we’re all at risk of getting addicted to the products and services they’re offering. And when that happens, everyone loses. Especially society as a whole.
You may be wondering why watching YouTube all day is bad for you. Unfortunately, kids are increasingly becoming addicted to technology. Thankfully, there are ways to overcome your tech addiction, and YouTube’s Take a Break feature is another handy tool.
Image Credit: Lars Plougmann/Flickr
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