I still find myself going on YouTube since the majority of content creators are there, and often I use it to learn about something. But ever since I set a daily limit of watching five videos (YouTube or not), I find myself going on there less and less, as my feed is bombarded with videos that only serve to stimulate dopamine. With the continued improvement of ad blockers, content creators finding the loophole of using in-video sponsorships instead of YouTube's ads (which is YouTube's primary source of revenue), and a gradual overall exodus of both consumers and creators from the platform, it seems YouTube (and Google at large) is becoming a bit anxious and desperate. Just yesterday, I noticed YouTube's new feature, YouTube Playables, which screams, "We're desperate to keep you all trapped on our platform by getting you even more addicted so we can keep making money off of you by selling your attention to advertisers."
This move feels like a last-ditch effort to retain users by increasing engagement through addictive gameplay, rather than improving the quality and relevance of the content. It's a clear sign that the platform is prioritizing profit over user experience and well-being. As someone who values meaningful content and mindful consumption, this trend is pushing me further away from YouTube, encouraging me to seek out alternative platforms that align better with my values and goals.
The company pulls in more user data the longer users stay in the Googleverse, which includes YouTube, and that data helps it market more efficiently across all its platforms. https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/053015/how-youtube-makes-money-videos.asp
Any alternatives to YouTube stackers enjoy using? I am now consciously working on deGoogling my brain and would love to learn about any alternatives that have served you well!
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Solid alternative, thank you!
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zap.stream just released video publishing function 👀
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Yesss this is the way!! Hopefully nostr platforms will imitate SN economic scheme
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Ohh interesting will take a look! Thanks!
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I switched to Odysee a while ago.
It's still limited in it's selection, but there's a lot of content that got censored from YouTube during the pandemic.
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Thanks for the rec! Gonna check it out!
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Do you earn LBRY tokens through watching videos?
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Yes, but I don't think that's worth much, although it was part of what initially drew me to Odysee,
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https://piped.kavin.rocks will let you view youtube anonymously
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Sweet! Thanks!
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that's not an alternative. it's just a proxy
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Whenever I need to look something up on youtube, I always use a proxy. It SERIOUSLY removes the addictive component of youtube, because they're not tracking you, and can't show you the next video. You have to actively search for things. Big improvement.
Of course, the censorship is still there.
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for sure, I also use proxies but really try to avoid it altogether.
best would be to download and publish on peertube
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Freetube is nice
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Never heard of it, thank you!
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that's not an alternative. it's just a frontend
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I've heard of it but yet to go on it, thanks a bunch!
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Rumble seems like it's still a centralized service. We've seen that we can't trust centralized services, because even if they start out good, they can always change under us.
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 24 May
It is centralized. This post asks for less-scummy youtube alternatives, not holy grails.
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Fair enough. I do have high hopes for zap.stream, though.
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10 sats \ 1 reply \ @guts 24 May
SmartTube for Android TV blocks ads and has Sponsorblock.
Like using YouTube ten years ago.
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I use an Android so will give it a try, thank you!
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Rumble
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Man, I have had similar thoughts lately. I keep getting pop ups for no adds or other services, its annoying. Even if I have an ad blocker, ads pop up. Its getting ridiculous.
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It really is...
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and now people are making into their videos. Sellouts.
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lightning.video, more nostr features coming soon ™️
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WHAT THE FUCK as I write this a banner appears on top redirecting me to the damned Youtube. This is not OK. You don't send friends to Youtube.
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lol it just won't let us be free!
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Rumble generally is decent.
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How is there not a Nostr based YouTube alternative yet?
I guess I should get to work....
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We all actually badly need a platform because YouTube is now worse than ever. The strategy of money making by Google has shifted the entire purpose. YouTube was once the best no doubt but now...it's Adtube.
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invidious odyssey newpipes on the app piped libreTube.dev banned.video
lots of options
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Invidious is an alternative YouTube frontend.
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Thank you for this publication which compiles a lot of new options to investigate... for now I think the same as you, searching and learning how to ungoogle myself, step by step. and I've been using Brave to avoid YT ads and I've recently been using New.Pipe as an option to drop YT. But it is true that many content creators are still on YT and that makes it difficult to stop using them.
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My pleasure! I just put up the post, all credit goes to all those who commented and recommended these new options! Brave is great! Never heard of new.pipe but will look into it, thank you! Yeah, that's why it's tough for me to move to an alternative because many of the creators I enjoy watching are only on YouTube...
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