We All Got Tricked into Content Addiction

I’ve had ADHD from a very young age, and it was really strange when everyone starting acting the same way I was over time…

Its ironic I was listening to this video like a podcast whilst I was shopping for groceries, yet I think it anecdotally hits the mark; we are slowly becoming incapable of being fully immersed in the moment.

9:15 "Fleeting moments of pleasure aren't real happiness." That quote hit me like a truck

I think internet addiction is far more common than we realize, and while short-attention spans are one consequence of it, there is so much more it does to us that needs to be talked about. Everyone's level of dependence on it is different, but I wanted to share my experience because it has been really interfering with my life for many years. My addiction is youtube, specifically, and I believe it stems from my need to constantly distract myself. The first time I tried not watching youtube for a day, and this is honestly embarrassing to admit, but it caused me to have mental breakdown. The idea of being completely alone with no background sounds, having to face responsibilities.. it really scared me. It really opened my eyes to just how addicting this platform can be. I've been trying to get rid of it for a long time but it is genuinely so hard, I actually feel like a drug addict. I also notice that every time I get off youtube, I replace it with some other form of distraction. No social media, no youtube, okay then I guess I'm playing videogames all day. No videogames either? Okay tv it is. No tv?? Well I'll just stare off into space and daydream instead. This is a genuine problem that sets me back in life and idk what to do about it, and the guilt I feel for wasting a whole day staring at a screen is just horrible. Sometimes I think back to what I was like as a child, outside all the time, so much more carefree, creative... I hope one day I can resolve this addiction and get to know who I am without the internet. Also wanted to say that the ending of this video made me sob but it also gave me a bit of hope, so I am super grateful I came across it.

This might not make sense to most people, but when I was in prison I felt so relieved to not have my phone or any internet. We spent our days just talking and my fondest memory was when I sat on the grass while two of my friends swing on the swingset. See, the facility I was in was an open prison (Sweden), so the swings faced an open field of grain, we’d watch the farmer with the machine that makes bales. Just sit there and watch the sunset over that beautiful field. Nobody having phones we were all there in the moment, though the heart longed for home and we just wanted time to go by quicker, we all were there in it together. One day we were just laughing and laughing. I can’t even remember what was so funny, but I can remember that feeling deep in my gut of true laughter and happiness. I felt more free than I have most other times in my life.

Societal existence causes me sadness. I'm not even 40, yet I feel overwhelmingly nostalgic for a time I am not sure I ever even lived in.

From my experience, short content is the main culprit for all our problems. I’ve been watching YouTube all my life and have never felt this drained. Once I started getting into TikTok, shorts and reels I noticed it completely destroyed my attention span, love for learning and energy levels. Now that I’ve started university it's kind of hit me how big of an impact it has and I truly hope I stop consuming it from today. Even if I fail, I’ll keep trying.

The human brain is not wired to find satisfaction I think you just explained the philosophy of Schopenhauer in one sentence.

i cant nowadays read a book without feeling bored, i want that magical feeling of immersing myself on a story without consistantly needing to be stimulated by screens back.

To anyone reading this - never stop to try to break free from addiction. I wish to give you strength to pursuit what gives you longlasting happiness cause you deserve it. I also wished we lived close so we could just go outside and play some soccer together right now :)

I used to be that person, always cramming more and more into my brain until I was burned out. I'd be constantly tired and couldn't focus on anything for more than a few minutes. I'd jump from one thing to another, never really enjoying anything because I was always chasing the next thing that would make me feel good. I tried to fix my boredom by adding more stuff to my life – tech gadgets, video games, subscriptions, streaming dongles and whatnot. These things gave me a momentary buzz, but I barely used them, other than just dabbling for a moment before moving on to the next thing. Then I realized I wasn't enjoying anything anymore. All that physical and mental clutter had no value or meaning because I never took the time to really appreciate anything. At some point, recently, I said goodbye to FOMO and started making small changes. Like, I turned off the TV during a meal. I can't stand having the TV on while I eat now, especially when it's just blasting negativity and anxiety at me. I also changed my attitude towards my backlog of video games. I have hundreds of titles I've never played, and I used to feel guilty about it. I thought I'd create a roadmap to play and maybe finish them all, but I failed miserably. Now, I don't stress about it. I just take it as a lesson that I wasted money on things I didn't even use. If I ever feel like playing a game, I'll just do it, without the guilt of having hundreds of others collecting dust. My relationship with social media also changed a lot. I barely spend an hour on it now, whereas I used to scroll and chat for hours on end. It was draining me, and I lost interest. I tried deleting apps and deactivating accounts, but moderation, not abstinence, was the true key. After all, I got to know friends in real life thanks to social media, so it's not all bad. Ah, I was also one of those people who'd go to a concert and instead of getting lost in the music and the vibe of the crowd, I'd be stuck behind a phone screen, filming every second. I'd compulsively record every moment, thinking I was capturing precious memories, only to never watch those videos again, and that robbed me of the chance to truly experience the moment. I think there's a delicate balance between engagement and detachment. It's about embracing the present moment, appreciating the simple things, and letting go of the relentless pursuit of more, more, more.

I feel like this whole “time passes fast as you get older” is a myth. Most of us are just not that present. As of 2024, I vow to reduce my content consumption. I’m going to take a break from YouTube. This video has been a giant wake up call for me. Maybe all that self help consumption and soul searching led me to this. I’m gonna focus on myself now. I’m gonna embrace boredom. Thank you.

During the pandemic, I deleted my IG, Facebook, ticktok. I even had to delete YouTube for awhile so I can kick my YT shorts habit. Now, I listen to books and long form YouTube videos. I can't go back to short videos, I get irritated by the ads and how quick the consumption is. Thank you for taking your time to produce this video and speaking at such a beautiful pace!

We're addicts people plain and simple. These phones for almost all of us have become a detrimental force in our lives. Think about it, more and more we have less friends, more and more we prefer to be with our phones than with our family, friends and children. More and more we've cant focus or bare the thought of being in the "wild" ie outside our homes without our phones. Hell most of us dont even consider it a POSSIBILITY to just have a flip phone and internet access on a computer. And just like an addict most us will scramble to make excuses or to justify these things to ourselves. The crazy thing is unlike most addictions we dont have other people in our lives to check us because unlike classic addictions almost everyone is also an addict, and consequently an enabler. Sorry for the rant this mans video touched my soul and reflected a conversation/battle ive been having with myself for quite some time.

When I was a kid, I remember being horrified by the idea of a cyberpunk dystopia... It's even more horrifying to think that our world will soon become one.

I've started getting back into reading long-form fiction in the last few months as a bit of a "Dopamine Detox" and I have found it immensely helpful. Finding a book you actually find interesting is the first step, but if you can ignite an interest in it, reading (and physical paper reading at that, no audiobooks) is one of the most accessible forms of delayed gratification I can think of. There are no shortcuts, speed reading (at least with fiction) doesn't really work if you're aiming for a high level of comprehension. It's just sitting down and taking some time to escape into the written word for x amount of time, until 12 hours have passed and you've completed a book. These keep rewarding too, I've found reading has reignited my creativity and ability to simply daydream without the need to consume 24/7. The difficult part is that all this addictive content is so easily accessible. It's difficult to browse the web and avoid temptation like I'm an ex-alcoholic having to live every day surrounded by people drinking on the regular and offering me a drink at every turn. I'm still taking my time to detox - evidently I arrived here after a bit of a youtube binge - but I feel I am making steps and getting better.

this is honestly my wakeup call to start living my life more productively and living in the moment not trying to cover it up with mind numbing content. thank you for this wakeup call.

I was going on a walk through the woods, and saw several butterflies fluttering about as the mid-day sun glistened through the leaves, golden speckles of light illuminated the grass below. I was hit with this overwhelming, powerful emotion and taken aback by the beauty which surrounds me, beauty that I had not been aware of before.

In case you're wondering about the thumbnail, it's from the Homunculus manga where the main character decides to get drilled in the head (trepanation) to get a sixth sense and ends up hallucinating other people as monsters.

Yes, I was clinically diagnosed with ADHD at the age of barely five. I had never been introduced to electronics or social media outside of occasional cartoons on the weekend. Now it’s everybody everywhere, and the kids who were getting made fun of for needing accommodations in school, are now needing those same accommodations… only to the tenth power. It’s scary for real.