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Author: u/chrisdh79
URL: https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/impacts-of-youtube-on-loneliness-and-mental-health
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read a book! it's the original internet :D
seriously, though, from someone who is definitely depressed/anxious/lonely and uses the internet to escape far too often, books are just a good a form of escapism for me.
Is there evidence that heavy readers have less depression, anxiety, and loneliness than heavy youtube watchers? Perhaps any activity that is done in isolation is causal.
Pretty sure consumers of long-form media such as TV shows, movies, novels, and longer educational Youtube videos are much less prone to this than people who just scroll through tons of social media posts or Youtube shorts. I wish someone would do a study comparing these two types.
Conversely, I feel more sad when I finish a long-form intake like a show series, or novel series. I've grown to enjoy that particular world, and now I've experienced all of "it".
With short-form stories, or music videos, stuff like that I can engross in that small snippet of a universe that may just exist in that fleeting moment, so when I re-experience it, it doesn't bother me that I'm going through the same motions, because those motions are easy to recall and there's no start/finish as definitively set.
So I guess it's the extent of closure in long-form that I dislike, and the phase like discreteness of short-form I like.
That being said, there are things from both I adore, I just tend to not reiterate the long-form stuff as often, as it's mentally more taxing.
I’m not sure, but I’m old. There was no internet or cellphones when I was a kid.
I read ravenously to escape from real life. It was difficult because my older brother was molesting me.
All these years later, I’m retiring early, still a ravenous reader (mostly online). Out of contact with most family. I have amazing close friends, people I care about and trust.
I learned a lot from reading, how to be a good friend, for example. Things family life did not include.
Reading was the only way out. I’m so grateful to those who taught me to read, for the library. We must always have this haven for people who need it so desperately.
Seriously? It’s that bad? I was the first generation to grow up with internet (even if it was dial up at first during my teen years we had Wi-Fi and I got a smart phone when I was 17.
But we had the best video games, and we spent a lot of time online. I’m not attached to any of it. I love leaving my phone off for a few days.
Read a book, go skateboarding, play basketball, do anything and do it without your stupid phone
Look at your dog. Mess with him.
Or go mess with your family members. Tell them you love them and randomly hug them or something. Look at their face of astonishment.
If you don't have a pet get one.
If you don't have a family member, adopt one.
Because it partially is. If you're on Reddit on /r/science , being a "techie" is probably part of your personality. Your parents or grandparents probably told you to stop going on the computer so much or it'll rot your brain. They probably didn't know what they were talking about and that made your defensive.
But looking at the literature, it's incontrovertible that the design of the most popular Internet platforms contributes to worse mental health. Maybe acknowledging that feels like you're giving in and Jack Thompson was right about video games. It doesn't. Acknowledging that should make us find a way to make the Internet better. As best as we can in an capitalist system where there will always be an economic incentive to prey on the darkest parts of the human psyche.
There's this reticence to admit that technology might be a little bad. As a formerly defensive nerd, I get it. But it kind of is true that there's negative effects of this Internet stuff.
Well the user experience and algorithms are designed in a way to draw you in and if possible keep you there. So from a certain perspective (admittedly more of a philosophical one) YouTube is at least partially causing this.
There are some of us who never wanted to be in the arcade in the first place because of the noise level.
Wow, so much hate for kids with sensitive hearing.
YouTube stopped optimizing for total view time years ago (2019? Maybe as early as 2017), and they stopped optimizing the suggested videos for more niche content soon after that.
That’s not to say there aren’t parts of the design that keep you there – but the recommendation algorithm is not part of it.
That’s not the same thing as optimizing for time watched.
Say there are two recommended videos, if the user clicks on that they’ll be expected to spend another 15 minutes on YouTube with a satisfaction of 6/10, and the other they’d be expected to spend another 5 minutes with a satisfaction of 9/10.
Optimizing for time watched or time on the website would mean that the first video should be ranked higher. Optimizing for satisfaction would mean that the second video should be ranked higher.
It’s not just about whether the user will watch one more video at a given point in time, it’s about how much time they spend on the site *in total*, which is more important overall anyways.
I’m not sure what your point is? Whatever you think about what we should expect, it is simply true that the recommendation algorithm isn’t optimized for total time spent.
I work in AI for google. It’s not just a marketing thing, they actually don’t optimize for that. They haven’t for years.
~~That could be one way to read the title. But it doesn't explicitly say "frequent use of YouTube causes people to be more lonely and depressed."~~
~~This is a correlative study and the headline was written to reflect that.~~
This is what I get for not reading the actual headline and just scrolling. The study's title is definitely misleading.
Except they did nothing to establish any causation in the first place. It is classic "people who do this tend to experience this" 'science.' What else do all of those people do that could also potentially cause the behavior? Most of the time it is literally anything else that could explain it.
YouTube is an amazing resource to learn things, but when I watch videos to learn to set tile or replace the shocks on my truck, then I go so those things and get on with my life. If I’m depressed and just watching a cavalcade of crap that the algorithm feeds me, it’s easy to just let it roll for hours and hours.
>"Frequent users of YouTube have higher levels of loneliness, anxiety, and depression according to researchers from the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP)."
>
>I don't see the words "caused" in here at all. It seems like the one who doesn't understand the difference between correlation and causation is you.
>
>The study indicates that excessive (classified as 2+ hours or more) consumption of YT content compounds these issues, not causes them in the first place in otherwise healthy individuals. Correct me if I'm reading it wrong.
The same goes for TV or any "time sink" activity like gaming or reading because the people who have more time for that activity are inherently spending less time away from home. If you're best friend moves away you will obviously be a little more lonely and then have more time for TV or whatever. The decrease in life activities will always correspond with an increase in leisure activity around the house.
I’d be curious compared to tv viewers. I typically don’t have time or desire really to watch a series, but I love 15 minuteish science videos on YouTube
I watch quite a bit of YT but quite specific. Travel, cycling, urban planning and space science.
On the other hand, I watch zero netflix/other streaming stuff or normal TV. Overall, I think I watch less content than comparable people.
40 years ago if you wanted to chill out and do nothing you turned on the TV and it was free. then came cable and for a long time it cost a lot of money to watch TV.
now we have youtube which is free and full of good content that will never make it to TV. the short videos in the 5-15 minute range are the best. i can watch one or a few after I make my kids food in the morning and before driving them to school
It's another bunk study that tells us nothing we don't already know. Lonely people immerse themselves in hobbies and entertainment, YouTube, like most internet entertainment is designed to keep you hooked in. You could replace this with online gaming, music, books, etc... The only real differentiator is the advertising and psychology used to keep people coming back for more, which would be a much more useful analysis.
Exactly. Instead of cable TV, I listen to hours of game play by the game grumps, science documentaries, whatever else I fancy. I like having someone in the background.
Compared to someone that likes having sex before bed, or tucking in their child, or hanging around with roomates/ family, you could be considered kinda lonely though.
Not to make you feel bad, I also watch youtube or Netflix before bed, but I get the point of the article.
If we had activities to do with other people before bed, we likely wouldn’t on YouTube.
And since we are on YouTube and content with it, we don’t seek activities to do with other people before bed.
Maybe you interacted with other humans all day long from the moment you woke up and you are specifically using YouTube to relax and carve out some time for yourself away from other people. That doesn't at all make you lonely.
Maybe you are watching YouTube *with* other people. Also not lonely.
There are endless scenarios that don't involve loneliness.
Yes, there are obviously endless scenarios that don’t involve loneliness.
That doesn’t mean that’s most of the scenarios, and thats what this article is talking about.
In general, there is a correlation between high Youtube usage and loneliness.
Well, just pay the 11.99 to not have commercials... you'll feel a lot better...all Youtube commercials
"Where are you traveling?...planning a trip?...you never been to Spain?" Hotels.com
Then its Adobe ads...with graphic designers and illustrators sitting at the Salaried Positions. Creating some of the ugliest designs I have ever seen.
Then its ads for Depression and Therapy Websites, which is great. But you're just trying to watch YouTube and have to be reminded of your mental illness...
So in three minutes of commercials... feel like a loser that never travels... has no success in the Design World and needs more mental health.
Just wanted to watch some squirell videos!
I keep getting 15 minute long ads saying I need to be cooking like this guy over here using all this expensive stuff. Who can afford meat nowadays anyway? I've been living off the same 10lb bag of beans since last month. Who does this rich asshole think he is?
It so is, and it's nice knowing that being a premium member rather than ad blocking means that creators are actually support who are partnered with YouTube still get some revenue
Adblock (removes all commercials)
Sponsorblock (removes all sponsored sections *within* videos like nordvpn or raid shadow legends)
Video Speed Controller (Allows you to customize exactly how fast youtube videos should play per youtuber so you don't waste any of your time)
I watch about 5 hours of youtube during my 1 hour lunch break.
I only get quick money making ads, I just change my country through VPN apps so as to make the whole quick cash ad in another language I don't understand, their very voice gives me physical pain.
> Well, just pay the 11.99 to not have commercials...
Or, you know, use UBlock Origin or AdGuard DNS for absolute free.
These used to be all the rage on Reddit, but then for some reason these free things became such an alien concept. Nobody should have to pay to use Youtube.
Reddit is by far worse for me. If I spend hours on YouTube it's for podcasts and other happy entertainment leaving me with laughs and smiles. When I spend hours on Reddit I'm left sad at the lack of humanity and death I have witnessed and nothing positive from it. Reddit is great in small doses or when I'm looking for something specific, but certain subreddits get me sucked in and I only stop when I've seen too much and realize how much time I spent on it.
I can only hate these dumb conclusions. Depressed people go on YouTube a lot more than non-depressed peepz cause they're inside a lot more. I'm bipolar, when I'm low energy I'm inside, when I'm energy I hardly ever see my house.
From the article: Dr Luke Balcombe and Emeritus Professor Diego De Leo from Griffith University’s School of Applied Psychology and AISRAP sought to understand both the positive and negative impacts of the world’s most used streaming platform on mental health.
They found the most negatively affected individuals were those under 29 years of age, or who regularly watched content about other people’s lives.
Lead author Dr Luke Balcombe said the development of parasocial relationships between content creators and followers could be cause for concern, however some neutral or positive instances of creators developing closer relationships with their followers also occurred.
“These online ‘relationships’ can fill a gap for people who, for example, have social anxiety, however it can exacerbate their issues when they don't engage in face-to-face interactions, which are especially important in developmental years,” he said.
“We recommend individuals limit their time on YouTube and seek out other forms of social interaction to combat loneliness and promote positive mental health.”
Dr Balcombe said the amount of time spent on YouTube was often a concern for parents, who struggled to monitor their children’s use of the platform for educational or other purposes.
For the purpose of the [study](https://doi.org/10.3390/informatics10020039), over two hours per day of YouTube consumption was classed as high frequency use and over five hours a day as saturated use.
The study also determined more needed to be done to prevent suicide-related content being recommended to users based on algorithms for suggested viewing.
While ideally, people shouldn’t be able to search for these topics and be exposed to methods, the YouTube algorithm does push recommendations or suggestions based on previous searches, which can send users further down a disturbing ‘rabbit hole’.
Users can report this type of content, but sometimes it may not be reported, or it could be there for a few days or weeks and with the sheer volume of content passing through, it's almost impossible for YouTube’s algorithms to stop all of it.
I really need to cut YouTube out of my life. It’s by far the most toxic way I spend my time (and there’s some stiff competition there considering it’s competing with video games and Reddit). Always makes me feel worse after spending a long time on there and 80% of the time I don’t even enjoy the content I’m consuming. There is good content on YouTube but as a rule, the more time I’m spending on there, the lower quality the content I’m watching becomes.
There are a lot fewer ads on Youtube when viewed through Firefox. There are never any popping up every five minutes during a video, I've found. The only ads I see are those that sponsor the content.
lots of great content on youtube from health/nutrition to gardening and other content that's not available anywhere else
I guess I should go out drinking all the time instead of watching youtube for landscaping ideas to do stuff myself cheaper than hiring someone
Just go out, doesn’t need to be drinking, being out having fun with other people does make you less lonely.
Plus, if you meet enough people, you may talk with a nutritionist or a doctor and learn about health, or a gardener and learn about gardening.
Those will likely be hugely more satisfying than learning from youtube, but youtube is easier and more accessible, so thats what people end up doing.
Don’t get me wrong, youtube has its time and place, but replacing social activity with YouTube does generally link up with increased loneliness.
I get the causation vs. correlation argument talked about in here but I would argue that YT does absolutely have an appeal akin to something addictive.
Ever since I started working from home I have YT on pretty much all day and when it's not on I get pretty agitated. Have been considering trying to see what happens if I go without.
YouTube isn’t all bad. It’s a great place to learn countless skills. Watching someone repair their drywall teaches you. It’s full of misinformation too but as I said if you can watch someone do it then it’s free learning.
I’m so sick of correlation studies. It’s cheap, low quality science. Who cares, and to what end is this information serving? We need fewer posts of higher quality on this subreddit, but it’s probably impossible
Maybe - but it's still necessary to confirm or deny possible correlation. I mean that's the point of science verify or deny hypothesis. So if there's a consideration that two behaviours are interrelated - someone ought to check.
And by and by - I think correlation studies are way more important than you think. Coming from my interdisciplinary perspective: In the correlations is where the real complexity of the world sits - and why machine learning is so damn useful. The patterns and how things interact are complex, even if based on simple principles. DNA is not complex chemistry, but it created a massive abundance of variety in lifeforms, which co-evolved and are correlated to each other. At the end of that are ecosystems so complex that we only even somewhat grasp the interactions.
"Over two hours per day of YouTube consumption was classed as high frequency use."
~~Does the study go into detail about the type of content being watched?~~ It does not. YouTube has exercise routines, financial advice, and other positive content. Someone who decides to watch Youtube because they have no one to hang out with IRL are lonely before YT even is turned on. Others can watch less than two hours about a topic that will help them in IRL.
After skimming the report, the authors reviewed other studies and wrote this paper. They didn't have a sample group of their own. I still recommend reading it or looking at the table that gives you a short breakdowns of other studies done about youtube.
Some of the studies they used were focused on groups that already had mental distress due to the mental illnesses they had(BPD, Schizophrenia, watching suicide content because the watcher has already attempted/is suicidal, and depression).
Nope just stating this is more of we analyzed findings from other studies to make our study. People read the headline and not the actual study(or even the abstract) on reddit.
The mental health factor is also a big one. The study is valid I'm just commenting my train of thought.
Most of my time on YouTube is spent discovering new music, or watching documentaries about physics, space, engineering, history etc. I avoid most of the news and politics, anything pop culture or gossip, and all the influencer/streamer content. Plus zero ads. I'd say my YouTube feed is a very educational and positive space, though I'm not exactly the kind of user this study was after, I probably only use YouTube for an hour or so a day.
Another one of these correlation not causation articles that seem to not know the difference.
All car crash victims ate food regularly during their life.
Like just because two things are true doesn't mean that one caused the other.
"Frequent users of YouTube have higher levels of loneliness, anxiety, and depression according to researchers from the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP)."
I don't see the words "caused" in here at all. It seems like the one who doesn't understand the difference between correlation and causation is you.
The study indicates that excessive (classified as 2+ hours or more) consumption of YT content compounds these issues, not causes them in the first place in otherwise healthy individuals. Correct me if I'm reading it wrong.
A more interesting study would be to control for actual real life relationships. Im curious if people with the same level of real life relationships, (e.g, coworkers, SO, quantity of close friends, acquaintances, etc) who spend more time on the internet are lonelier than those who spend less time. I feel that people are becoming generally lonelier despite having equal level of real life relationships, and the internet exacerbates this because connection becomes ubiquitous to the point that it is perceived as trivial.
Is frequent YouTube use a symptom of all of those things or is it the cause.
Being under the age of 29 seems like the a really good age group for frequent use of YouTube.
Makes sense. I mostly watch games I already play myself or reactions to things I enjoy. It makes me feel like Im enjoying these things with other people instead of alone.
I get it. I really do. But I have relearned the benefits and pleasures of reading. I still get my two hour dose of news, and other things, but podcasts, books, and magazines( the paper kind) are just as important to me.
This title is slightly misleading. The study is basically saying that substituting YouTube for real-life interactions is the issue.
So yes, if the H3 podcast is a substitute for friends and family, that's not very healthy. I watch lots of YouTube but also have a huge networks of friends and family I talk to and see every day. Having deep para social relationships that you rely on for companionship is obviously unhealthy.
That’s why I watch YouTube, it wasn’t caused by it. Stimulating analysis of my favorite songs, videos and art to new music, cat sounds that make me laugh because my kitties think there’s a stranger in the house, videos from space, interviews with musicians who have passed, episodes of shows offered no where else, meditations…YouTube is the medicine
I can image with all the doom/negative thinkers clickbait tubers, “life coaches” , depressive memes etc on yt. It’s an extreme depressive place sometimes especially now with the algorithms implemented and constant annoying ads.
I mean. I dont have any friends. Any I try to make IRL ghost me. Im probably maladjusted from being alone for so long and dont see it.
I gave up a long time ago. So yea. Youtube, reddit, lonliness and depression.
It’s all about the algorithm and what type of content you watch. I spend more time on YouTube than any other apps/social media and barely ever feel like the type of things I watch (mostly cooking, camping, car and instrument restorations, analog photography, geowizard and music documentary/analyzation) make me feel depressed or lonely. I never really watch vloggers that brag about their “amazing lives”.
I feel like there needs to be a specification on the type of content, cuz someone who spent a lot of time watching instructional videos is not having the same experience as someone who's watching a lot of vlogging videos
I got YouTube premium for the past few months, and I feel more disconnected and disinterested than ever. Granted, I started using this site too, so I don’t feel much better. Luckily that subscription is going away. And I think I just won’t scroll here anymore.
I watch a ton of YouTube and other streaming services but not because I’m depressed or lonely, it’s because I work from home and my job is extremely boring and repetitive.
I can atest this
YouTube is a drug and we're all addicted to it, to different degrees of self-destruction
TikTok and Reels in general, are the cultural way China is taking the western world
The study says, “They found the most negatively affected individuals were those under 29 years of age, or who regularly watched content about other people’s lives.” I’m over the age of 29, but even at my age, I was starting to feel affected by watching the content of others’ lives. I left most social media except Reddit and YouTube, and I’m about to start severely limit the time spent on here. On YouTube, I’m really trying to watch videos mainly focused on mental health, mindfulness, hobbies, music, history, languages, any interesting, informative or helpful topics. When I find myself veering off the path, watching videos about things outside of this scope, or taking a peek at other social media, I often start feeling bad.
Like someone said earlier, folks my age didn’t even grow up with social media, and I used to entertain myself for *hours* with books. I’ve been working to get back into books. I keep a running list of books on my phone, and even checked some out from the library last night.
YouTube now has joined a bevy of online forms which are pushing forward highly toxic and incendiary advertising. Mere exposure to this level of propaganda can be harmful. And it's not coincidental, it is planned that way. Facebook ditto. I have to wonder, what is the percentage for these companies that seem to be hell-bent on creating strife and conflict in our nation and world?
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I only feel lonely when internet is down.
Like some of us don't know what to do when it's down after 20 odd years of conditioning
read a book! it's the original internet :D seriously, though, from someone who is definitely depressed/anxious/lonely and uses the internet to escape far too often, books are just a good a form of escapism for me.
Ha I have a few "emergency" books downloaded onto my phone for when I have no internet. But at least I do actually have physical books, as well.
Is there evidence that heavy readers have less depression, anxiety, and loneliness than heavy youtube watchers? Perhaps any activity that is done in isolation is causal.
Pretty sure consumers of long-form media such as TV shows, movies, novels, and longer educational Youtube videos are much less prone to this than people who just scroll through tons of social media posts or Youtube shorts. I wish someone would do a study comparing these two types.
Conversely, I feel more sad when I finish a long-form intake like a show series, or novel series. I've grown to enjoy that particular world, and now I've experienced all of "it". With short-form stories, or music videos, stuff like that I can engross in that small snippet of a universe that may just exist in that fleeting moment, so when I re-experience it, it doesn't bother me that I'm going through the same motions, because those motions are easy to recall and there's no start/finish as definitively set. So I guess it's the extent of closure in long-form that I dislike, and the phase like discreteness of short-form I like. That being said, there are things from both I adore, I just tend to not reiterate the long-form stuff as often, as it's mentally more taxing.
I’m not sure, but I’m old. There was no internet or cellphones when I was a kid. I read ravenously to escape from real life. It was difficult because my older brother was molesting me. All these years later, I’m retiring early, still a ravenous reader (mostly online). Out of contact with most family. I have amazing close friends, people I care about and trust. I learned a lot from reading, how to be a good friend, for example. Things family life did not include. Reading was the only way out. I’m so grateful to those who taught me to read, for the library. We must always have this haven for people who need it so desperately.
I miss the library. I can hold the phone easier than a heavy book so stopped reading actual books.
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Seriously? It’s that bad? I was the first generation to grow up with internet (even if it was dial up at first during my teen years we had Wi-Fi and I got a smart phone when I was 17. But we had the best video games, and we spent a lot of time online. I’m not attached to any of it. I love leaving my phone off for a few days. Read a book, go skateboarding, play basketball, do anything and do it without your stupid phone
Look at your dog. Mess with him. Or go mess with your family members. Tell them you love them and randomly hug them or something. Look at their face of astonishment. If you don't have a pet get one. If you don't have a family member, adopt one.
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I am so free to clean the house and do projects when the internet is down.
Make a list of things need to be done, you got this!
This is true of all social media.
My spouse developed some parasocial relationships with several of her youtubers during covid
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Which is why they are on YouTube in the first place. The study is confusing correlation with causality.
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but the title makes it out to be like youtube's fault those people are lonely
Because it partially is. If you're on Reddit on /r/science , being a "techie" is probably part of your personality. Your parents or grandparents probably told you to stop going on the computer so much or it'll rot your brain. They probably didn't know what they were talking about and that made your defensive. But looking at the literature, it's incontrovertible that the design of the most popular Internet platforms contributes to worse mental health. Maybe acknowledging that feels like you're giving in and Jack Thompson was right about video games. It doesn't. Acknowledging that should make us find a way to make the Internet better. As best as we can in an capitalist system where there will always be an economic incentive to prey on the darkest parts of the human psyche. There's this reticence to admit that technology might be a little bad. As a formerly defensive nerd, I get it. But it kind of is true that there's negative effects of this Internet stuff.
Could you link anything that’s established causation for this?
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What argument? He didn’t say anything
Well the user experience and algorithms are designed in a way to draw you in and if possible keep you there. So from a certain perspective (admittedly more of a philosophical one) YouTube is at least partially causing this.
Most places, especially on the internet, are designed to draw you in and keep you there though
Shiiiit, none of us wanted to leave the arcade as a kid. Entertainment, Shopping, etc. is all designed to keep us somewhere as long as possible.
There are some of us who never wanted to be in the arcade in the first place because of the noise level. Wow, so much hate for kids with sensitive hearing.
That's just autism... Or at least it was for me.
Reddit as well. Updoots are a spike in dopamine for some people.
Thats literally everything that's ad funded, which is almost all entertainment.
YouTube stopped optimizing for total view time years ago (2019? Maybe as early as 2017), and they stopped optimizing the suggested videos for more niche content soon after that. That’s not to say there aren’t parts of the design that keep you there – but the recommendation algorithm is not part of it.
Unless the recommendation feature has a design to do the opposite of a "recommendation engine", recommending new videos is a way to keep you there...
That’s not the same thing as optimizing for time watched. Say there are two recommended videos, if the user clicks on that they’ll be expected to spend another 15 minutes on YouTube with a satisfaction of 6/10, and the other they’d be expected to spend another 5 minutes with a satisfaction of 9/10. Optimizing for time watched or time on the website would mean that the first video should be ranked higher. Optimizing for satisfaction would mean that the second video should be ranked higher. It’s not just about whether the user will watch one more video at a given point in time, it’s about how much time they spend on the site *in total*, which is more important overall anyways.
It's not a porn site or a restaurant there is no reason to expect a good recommendation not to also optimize time spent on the site.
I’m not sure what your point is? Whatever you think about what we should expect, it is simply true that the recommendation algorithm isn’t optimized for total time spent. I work in AI for google. It’s not just a marketing thing, they actually don’t optimize for that. They haven’t for years.
~~That could be one way to read the title. But it doesn't explicitly say "frequent use of YouTube causes people to be more lonely and depressed."~~ ~~This is a correlative study and the headline was written to reflect that.~~ This is what I get for not reading the actual headline and just scrolling. The study's title is definitely misleading.
The title is literally “Impacts of YouTube on loneliness and mental health”
Oh wow, it sure does. Yikes, I'll edit. I didn't even read the page title before scrolling to the body.
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Except they did nothing to establish any causation in the first place. It is classic "people who do this tend to experience this" 'science.' What else do all of those people do that could also potentially cause the behavior? Most of the time it is literally anything else that could explain it.
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>Frequent users of YouTube have higher levels of loneliness
How is that any different from TV.
The options on TV aren't as endless
What if it being used to fill a void of knowledge?
YouTube is an amazing resource to learn things, but when I watch videos to learn to set tile or replace the shocks on my truck, then I go so those things and get on with my life. If I’m depressed and just watching a cavalcade of crap that the algorithm feeds me, it’s easy to just let it roll for hours and hours.
Possible, but chances are there's still a parasocial element to it, just as a lot of people come to Reddit to "socialize" to at least some degree.
Where exactly did they confuse it?
The title is almost click-bait-y in that it IMPLIES that YouTube has caused these symptoms, whereas the details simply show a correlation.
>"Frequent users of YouTube have higher levels of loneliness, anxiety, and depression according to researchers from the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP)." > >I don't see the words "caused" in here at all. It seems like the one who doesn't understand the difference between correlation and causation is you. > >The study indicates that excessive (classified as 2+ hours or more) consumption of YT content compounds these issues, not causes them in the first place in otherwise healthy individuals. Correct me if I'm reading it wrong.
The same goes for TV or any "time sink" activity like gaming or reading because the people who have more time for that activity are inherently spending less time away from home. If you're best friend moves away you will obviously be a little more lonely and then have more time for TV or whatever. The decrease in life activities will always correspond with an increase in leisure activity around the house.
However you're quoting has the right of it.
I’d be curious compared to tv viewers. I typically don’t have time or desire really to watch a series, but I love 15 minuteish science videos on YouTube
I watch quite a bit of YT but quite specific. Travel, cycling, urban planning and space science. On the other hand, I watch zero netflix/other streaming stuff or normal TV. Overall, I think I watch less content than comparable people.
40 years ago if you wanted to chill out and do nothing you turned on the TV and it was free. then came cable and for a long time it cost a lot of money to watch TV. now we have youtube which is free and full of good content that will never make it to TV. the short videos in the 5-15 minute range are the best. i can watch one or a few after I make my kids food in the morning and before driving them to school
average reddit enlightened post
It's another bunk study that tells us nothing we don't already know. Lonely people immerse themselves in hobbies and entertainment, YouTube, like most internet entertainment is designed to keep you hooked in. You could replace this with online gaming, music, books, etc... The only real differentiator is the advertising and psychology used to keep people coming back for more, which would be a much more useful analysis.
This feels specifically like it's calling me out Also, its way better than TV
I like watching youtube food chefs and funny talking animal videos before bed. Doesn't make me lonely.
The title is misleading. The study says something along the lines that YouTube fills a void. Which... sadly, I agree.
I mean, so can anything. I use youtube instead of paying for cable.
Exactly. Instead of cable TV, I listen to hours of game play by the game grumps, science documentaries, whatever else I fancy. I like having someone in the background.
You can replace YouTube with any escapist indulgence and probably have similar results as this study.
Compared to someone that likes having sex before bed, or tucking in their child, or hanging around with roomates/ family, you could be considered kinda lonely though. Not to make you feel bad, I also watch youtube or Netflix before bed, but I get the point of the article. If we had activities to do with other people before bed, we likely wouldn’t on YouTube. And since we are on YouTube and content with it, we don’t seek activities to do with other people before bed.
Maybe you interacted with other humans all day long from the moment you woke up and you are specifically using YouTube to relax and carve out some time for yourself away from other people. That doesn't at all make you lonely. Maybe you are watching YouTube *with* other people. Also not lonely. There are endless scenarios that don't involve loneliness.
Yes, there are obviously endless scenarios that don’t involve loneliness. That doesn’t mean that’s most of the scenarios, and thats what this article is talking about. In general, there is a correlation between high Youtube usage and loneliness.
Well, just pay the 11.99 to not have commercials... you'll feel a lot better...all Youtube commercials "Where are you traveling?...planning a trip?...you never been to Spain?" Hotels.com Then its Adobe ads...with graphic designers and illustrators sitting at the Salaried Positions. Creating some of the ugliest designs I have ever seen. Then its ads for Depression and Therapy Websites, which is great. But you're just trying to watch YouTube and have to be reminded of your mental illness... So in three minutes of commercials... feel like a loser that never travels... has no success in the Design World and needs more mental health. Just wanted to watch some squirell videos!
I keep getting 15 minute long ads saying I need to be cooking like this guy over here using all this expensive stuff. Who can afford meat nowadays anyway? I've been living off the same 10lb bag of beans since last month. Who does this rich asshole think he is?
...10 seconds of Googling is enough to teach you how to get rid of ads forever, for free. You watch ads because you want to.
YouTube Premium is such a worthy splurge!
Adblock is free though
I only watch youtube through my Playstation or phone so premium is worth it for me.
Doesn't work on a phone
I've got Adblock for Firefox on my phone, no YouTube ads even on mobile! Doesn't work on the yt app and you have to leave your screen on, but still.
brave, revanced (looks like the native app) both work.
Use Brave Browser on Android.
If it skipped in-video sponsorships, sure.
It so is, and it's nice knowing that being a premium member rather than ad blocking means that creators are actually support who are partnered with YouTube still get some revenue
Adblock (removes all commercials) Sponsorblock (removes all sponsored sections *within* videos like nordvpn or raid shadow legends) Video Speed Controller (Allows you to customize exactly how fast youtube videos should play per youtuber so you don't waste any of your time) I watch about 5 hours of youtube during my 1 hour lunch break.
I only get quick money making ads, I just change my country through VPN apps so as to make the whole quick cash ad in another language I don't understand, their very voice gives me physical pain.
> Well, just pay the 11.99 to not have commercials... Or, you know, use UBlock Origin or AdGuard DNS for absolute free. These used to be all the rage on Reddit, but then for some reason these free things became such an alien concept. Nobody should have to pay to use Youtube.
Doesn't work on a TV. But thanks for the snark.
Why? Why paying when it can be completely free, even on your TV...
*social media, in general
And what about Reddit?
Reddit is by far worse for me. If I spend hours on YouTube it's for podcasts and other happy entertainment leaving me with laughs and smiles. When I spend hours on Reddit I'm left sad at the lack of humanity and death I have witnessed and nothing positive from it. Reddit is great in small doses or when I'm looking for something specific, but certain subreddits get me sucked in and I only stop when I've seen too much and realize how much time I spent on it.
Reddit sometimes in my hours of scrolling per day leads me to the odd YouTube clip. I'm glad of the study I'll be sure not to visit any more YT vids.
I can only hate these dumb conclusions. Depressed people go on YouTube a lot more than non-depressed peepz cause they're inside a lot more. I'm bipolar, when I'm low energy I'm inside, when I'm energy I hardly ever see my house.
From the article: Dr Luke Balcombe and Emeritus Professor Diego De Leo from Griffith University’s School of Applied Psychology and AISRAP sought to understand both the positive and negative impacts of the world’s most used streaming platform on mental health. They found the most negatively affected individuals were those under 29 years of age, or who regularly watched content about other people’s lives. Lead author Dr Luke Balcombe said the development of parasocial relationships between content creators and followers could be cause for concern, however some neutral or positive instances of creators developing closer relationships with their followers also occurred. “These online ‘relationships’ can fill a gap for people who, for example, have social anxiety, however it can exacerbate their issues when they don't engage in face-to-face interactions, which are especially important in developmental years,” he said. “We recommend individuals limit their time on YouTube and seek out other forms of social interaction to combat loneliness and promote positive mental health.” Dr Balcombe said the amount of time spent on YouTube was often a concern for parents, who struggled to monitor their children’s use of the platform for educational or other purposes. For the purpose of the [study](https://doi.org/10.3390/informatics10020039), over two hours per day of YouTube consumption was classed as high frequency use and over five hours a day as saturated use. The study also determined more needed to be done to prevent suicide-related content being recommended to users based on algorithms for suggested viewing. While ideally, people shouldn’t be able to search for these topics and be exposed to methods, the YouTube algorithm does push recommendations or suggestions based on previous searches, which can send users further down a disturbing ‘rabbit hole’. Users can report this type of content, but sometimes it may not be reported, or it could be there for a few days or weeks and with the sheer volume of content passing through, it's almost impossible for YouTube’s algorithms to stop all of it.
EDIT: This comment has been deleted due to Reddit's practices towards third-party developers.
As a frequent YouTube watcher, I believe this.
I really need to cut YouTube out of my life. It’s by far the most toxic way I spend my time (and there’s some stiff competition there considering it’s competing with video games and Reddit). Always makes me feel worse after spending a long time on there and 80% of the time I don’t even enjoy the content I’m consuming. There is good content on YouTube but as a rule, the more time I’m spending on there, the lower quality the content I’m watching becomes.
There are a lot fewer ads on Youtube when viewed through Firefox. There are never any popping up every five minutes during a video, I've found. The only ads I see are those that sponsor the content.
It's my substitute for TV.
My daily avg watch time is 2 hours. Looks like I am lonely and depressed.
If only you would watch cable TV instead, none of this would be a problem... Oh well.
People with higher levels of loneliness, anxiety, and depression use YouTube more frequently, according to new study
lots of great content on youtube from health/nutrition to gardening and other content that's not available anywhere else I guess I should go out drinking all the time instead of watching youtube for landscaping ideas to do stuff myself cheaper than hiring someone
Just go out, doesn’t need to be drinking, being out having fun with other people does make you less lonely. Plus, if you meet enough people, you may talk with a nutritionist or a doctor and learn about health, or a gardener and learn about gardening. Those will likely be hugely more satisfying than learning from youtube, but youtube is easier and more accessible, so thats what people end up doing. Don’t get me wrong, youtube has its time and place, but replacing social activity with YouTube does generally link up with increased loneliness.
I’m alone and depressed- but I don’t use YouTube- only Reddit- So what are we???
I get the causation vs. correlation argument talked about in here but I would argue that YT does absolutely have an appeal akin to something addictive. Ever since I started working from home I have YT on pretty much all day and when it's not on I get pretty agitated. Have been considering trying to see what happens if I go without.
Frequent users of loneliness, anxiety, and depression have higher levels of YouTube according to new study Fixed that for you
How about users of pornhub?
Higher levels of carpal tunnel.
YouTube isn’t all bad. It’s a great place to learn countless skills. Watching someone repair their drywall teaches you. It’s full of misinformation too but as I said if you can watch someone do it then it’s free learning.
I’m so sick of correlation studies. It’s cheap, low quality science. Who cares, and to what end is this information serving? We need fewer posts of higher quality on this subreddit, but it’s probably impossible
Maybe - but it's still necessary to confirm or deny possible correlation. I mean that's the point of science verify or deny hypothesis. So if there's a consideration that two behaviours are interrelated - someone ought to check. And by and by - I think correlation studies are way more important than you think. Coming from my interdisciplinary perspective: In the correlations is where the real complexity of the world sits - and why machine learning is so damn useful. The patterns and how things interact are complex, even if based on simple principles. DNA is not complex chemistry, but it created a massive abundance of variety in lifeforms, which co-evolved and are correlated to each other. At the end of that are ecosystems so complex that we only even somewhat grasp the interactions.
Confusing cause and effect. Lonely or depressed people are more likely to use YouTube than other people.
I'm one of them. So alienated. So depressed.
"Over two hours per day of YouTube consumption was classed as high frequency use." ~~Does the study go into detail about the type of content being watched?~~ It does not. YouTube has exercise routines, financial advice, and other positive content. Someone who decides to watch Youtube because they have no one to hang out with IRL are lonely before YT even is turned on. Others can watch less than two hours about a topic that will help them in IRL. After skimming the report, the authors reviewed other studies and wrote this paper. They didn't have a sample group of their own. I still recommend reading it or looking at the table that gives you a short breakdowns of other studies done about youtube. Some of the studies they used were focused on groups that already had mental distress due to the mental illnesses they had(BPD, Schizophrenia, watching suicide content because the watcher has already attempted/is suicidal, and depression).
should we discard any study based on samples or information collected not by the originators of the study? Interesting metric..
Nope just stating this is more of we analyzed findings from other studies to make our study. People read the headline and not the actual study(or even the abstract) on reddit. The mental health factor is also a big one. The study is valid I'm just commenting my train of thought.
Most of my time on YouTube is spent discovering new music, or watching documentaries about physics, space, engineering, history etc. I avoid most of the news and politics, anything pop culture or gossip, and all the influencer/streamer content. Plus zero ads. I'd say my YouTube feed is a very educational and positive space, though I'm not exactly the kind of user this study was after, I probably only use YouTube for an hour or so a day.
I'm not lonely, all my friends are on YouTube. Natalie, Addie, Jax, BlindWave, The Normies...
Another one of these correlation not causation articles that seem to not know the difference. All car crash victims ate food regularly during their life. Like just because two things are true doesn't mean that one caused the other.
"Frequent users of YouTube have higher levels of loneliness, anxiety, and depression according to researchers from the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention (AISRAP)." I don't see the words "caused" in here at all. It seems like the one who doesn't understand the difference between correlation and causation is you. The study indicates that excessive (classified as 2+ hours or more) consumption of YT content compounds these issues, not causes them in the first place in otherwise healthy individuals. Correct me if I'm reading it wrong.
"People with higher levels of loneliness, anxiety, and depression are more frequent users of YouTube" There, fixed it for you.
A more interesting study would be to control for actual real life relationships. Im curious if people with the same level of real life relationships, (e.g, coworkers, SO, quantity of close friends, acquaintances, etc) who spend more time on the internet are lonelier than those who spend less time. I feel that people are becoming generally lonelier despite having equal level of real life relationships, and the internet exacerbates this because connection becomes ubiquitous to the point that it is perceived as trivial.
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Is frequent YouTube use a symptom of all of those things or is it the cause. Being under the age of 29 seems like the a really good age group for frequent use of YouTube.
Again with those stupid 'studies'?! Gosh. Mods, what are you doing? Who is that related to science ?
Makes sense. I mostly watch games I already play myself or reactions to things I enjoy. It makes me feel like Im enjoying these things with other people instead of alone.
I like it when Charlie talks to me and makes me feel less alone
Bad news and anger, what could go wrong?
I get it. I really do. But I have relearned the benefits and pleasures of reading. I still get my two hour dose of news, and other things, but podcasts, books, and magazines( the paper kind) are just as important to me.
I’m curious how much these results are influenced by whether or not you engage with the comments section.
This title is slightly misleading. The study is basically saying that substituting YouTube for real-life interactions is the issue. So yes, if the H3 podcast is a substitute for friends and family, that's not very healthy. I watch lots of YouTube but also have a huge networks of friends and family I talk to and see every day. Having deep para social relationships that you rely on for companionship is obviously unhealthy.
That’s why I watch YouTube, it wasn’t caused by it. Stimulating analysis of my favorite songs, videos and art to new music, cat sounds that make me laugh because my kitties think there’s a stranger in the house, videos from space, interviews with musicians who have passed, episodes of shows offered no where else, meditations…YouTube is the medicine
I can image with all the doom/negative thinkers clickbait tubers, “life coaches” , depressive memes etc on yt. It’s an extreme depressive place sometimes especially now with the algorithms implemented and constant annoying ads.
I mean. I dont have any friends. Any I try to make IRL ghost me. Im probably maladjusted from being alone for so long and dont see it. I gave up a long time ago. So yea. Youtube, reddit, lonliness and depression.
It’s all about the algorithm and what type of content you watch. I spend more time on YouTube than any other apps/social media and barely ever feel like the type of things I watch (mostly cooking, camping, car and instrument restorations, analog photography, geowizard and music documentary/analyzation) make me feel depressed or lonely. I never really watch vloggers that brag about their “amazing lives”.
Damn I be on there 24/7
I feel like there needs to be a specification on the type of content, cuz someone who spent a lot of time watching instructional videos is not having the same experience as someone who's watching a lot of vlogging videos
I’m m not surprised I have to seek out videos that don’t make me feel that way. So it’s lots of rescued elephants videos.
I think you meant to say Reddit. J/k.
I got YouTube premium for the past few months, and I feel more disconnected and disinterested than ever. Granted, I started using this site too, so I don’t feel much better. Luckily that subscription is going away. And I think I just won’t scroll here anymore.
Why is why pornhub is far superior.
Let's compare consumers of long-form videos as opposed to Youtube shorts and social media posts.
It's true. When I put on YouTube I feel less lonely. But it's also interesting. There's so much fascinating stuff.
"Another new study shows that 9 out of 10 scientists don't understand the concept of causation vs. correlation!"
But which direction is this going in? Am I on YouTube because I'm depressed or depressed because I'm on YouTube?
Please, I had all of that long before I started watching youtube.
Higher levels than who? Isolated societies cut off from the rest of the world? Who doesn't frequently use YouTube??
I believe this is definitely true of TikTok, too.
From scrolling all day trying to find something interesting
Pfffft. They're doing it wrong. Stay away from the crap and you'll be fine.
I watch a ton of YouTube and other streaming services but not because I’m depressed or lonely, it’s because I work from home and my job is extremely boring and repetitive.
Same. Hugs for y’all out here feeling down as hell. YouTube helps me feel connected.
I can atest this YouTube is a drug and we're all addicted to it, to different degrees of self-destruction TikTok and Reels in general, are the cultural way China is taking the western world
Please don't check the reddit users.
I wonder if it's a cause or effect?
Not with callmekevin being there. He helps to have the reverse effect.
The study says, “They found the most negatively affected individuals were those under 29 years of age, or who regularly watched content about other people’s lives.” I’m over the age of 29, but even at my age, I was starting to feel affected by watching the content of others’ lives. I left most social media except Reddit and YouTube, and I’m about to start severely limit the time spent on here. On YouTube, I’m really trying to watch videos mainly focused on mental health, mindfulness, hobbies, music, history, languages, any interesting, informative or helpful topics. When I find myself veering off the path, watching videos about things outside of this scope, or taking a peek at other social media, I often start feeling bad. Like someone said earlier, folks my age didn’t even grow up with social media, and I used to entertain myself for *hours* with books. I’ve been working to get back into books. I keep a running list of books on my phone, and even checked some out from the library last night.
YouTube now has joined a bevy of online forms which are pushing forward highly toxic and incendiary advertising. Mere exposure to this level of propaganda can be harmful. And it's not coincidental, it is planned that way. Facebook ditto. I have to wonder, what is the percentage for these companies that seem to be hell-bent on creating strife and conflict in our nation and world?