I agree with Derek Thompson, Everything is Television.

I was listening to a Plain English episode with Derick Thompson and the phrase that rang out is “Everything is Television”. He introduced the idea of the attention economy which connects directly to ‘using social media as a tool instead of it using you’. For example, have you ever been typing on your phone and you look up back up on the TV and go “uh oh, what did I miss?”. That’s one medium of attention winning over another.

I used to watch a lot of YouTube. It was approaching at some week to 50+ hours because I liked learning about new ideas and being quote ‘informed’. Do I still watch shows and movies? Of course, but they are now more of an intentional part of my life. Even when I got back on the platform of YouTube to find some information I do it with the proper guardrails such as restriction and self-awareness of an algorithm trying to steal my attention. After a few years of watching YouTube I started to realize my watching patterns were a problem. I was increasing become frustrated in not only what I was watching but also the content that was even being recommended. After so many “interesting” rabbit holes it became burdensome to stop watching but also easy enough to keep clicking to the next video. I kept having to watch more and more to satisfy the same need of entertainment.

hat was the “last” youtube video I ever watched?

This pattern of habit continued until a found a video called Operation Red Herring by EmpLemon. The video mainly went over the YouTube Adpocalypse. However, there was a very important side tangent about the decline of quality content and about how the videos you are watching now are objectively made with less creativity and more profit-based incentives. After this sentence, I felt like an alcoholic who suddenly realized they had a kid. The previous sentence could be perceived as hyperbole but let me try to phrase it in another way. “What if the only thing stopping you from something greater was yourself”.

How bad are algorithms exactly?

They are useful until they start to use you. I don’t have problem with search engines; I have a problem with biased curated content that leads to echo chambers. I don’t have a problem with shopping recommendations; I have a problem when they are used for cent-squeezing price discrimination.

So, the question is - are you going to keep letting algorithms use you?