I’m specifically talking about the video as a medium to share information, and youtube is the worst, as it’s 99% filled with crappy influencer stuff whose only aim is to monetize people’s time.
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philthi@lemmy.world 3 weeks agoI use YouTube extensively (I mean, 2-5 hours a day) and 7 days a week for years now; I use it for language learning, there is really nothing better than normal people chatting (to the camera or between themselves) about regular daily stuff that I’m also interested in, to improve comprehension, I’d love to find any source as rich as YouTube. Peertube is hopeless, I tried and failed there due to a complete lack of content (though I do check in occasionally, I’d love if some of my subscribed YouTubers would start publishing on that platform… Though I don’t know if there any monetary incentives for them to do that?).
Engywuck@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
philthi@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Sure there’s that. I’m just trying to help you understand the viewpoint of some of the people that are heavy users of YouTube, and why there are currently no good alternatives, as you said “I can’t understand”.
I’m sure, like me, there are other people with their own alternative valid reasons for using YouTube for enormous amounts of time.
Just because some of the content on a platform is bad or not to our tastes, doesn’t mean it all is, and it certainly doesn’t mean that the users are wrong for using that platform in a way that suits them.
I do disagree with the publishing of content that is hateful or deliberately trying to misinform people, and I think YouTube has a lot of that, I’d obviously prefer it didn’t.
Engywuck@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
“I really struggle trying to understand the addiction”, was my original statement. The two last words are important.
philthi@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
That’s fair.
purrtastic@lemmy.nz 3 weeks ago
Can you not just make sure YouTube gets none of your money by using a front end that strips out all ads and sponsored segments? My kids watch YouTube but they’ve never seen an ad.
philthi@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I pay for YouTube premium. Although I’d prefer to find an EU alternative, I really have no problem paying for a service that I consider worth the price.
A red flag for me, is if I’m paying for a service and they still show me adverts.
DFX4509B_2@lemmy.org 3 weeks ago
Google’s been attacking those lately, mostly to success (Piped and Invidious are effectively dead, ViewTube is also dead, and FreeTube’s a target now).