Mastodawn

myrmepropagandist

Amazon might not notice that you stopped shopping with them* but if you take that same modest bit of disposable income and spend it on art bought directly from artists, the small electronics projects of your friends, helping people in dire financial situations and the the local theater all of those people WILL notice. It will have a massive impact.

*But, also Amazon does notice. Especially as more and more people do this.

myrmepropagandist Dec 3

Maybe you think "I can't cut out X just yet" and there are practical reasons that make it hard. That's fine, but keep thinking about it.

You can find a way to wiggle free. It's OK if it takes some time and planning.

myrmepropagandist Dec 3

The next big one I want gone from my life is YouTube. This one is hard, though. I think the first step would be to at least use the alternatives for those creators I like who bother to offer one.

I don't know how I'll wriggle free from YouTube just yet, but I'm not giving up on it because it's "hard" --

myrmepropagandist Dec 3

Right now "no YouTube" would mean just not seeing a lot of videos that I want to see.

But, not as many as I think.

🤔

Steven Saus [he/him]Dec 3

The best solution I've found there is a combination of RSS feeds and yt-dlp (and making sure it credits the videos as being watched for the creator's metrics). That way I can avoid the "suggested videos" and comments and all that crap.

This is the one I slapped together (and use), and yeah, being deliberate about it DEFINITELY changes the experience.

https://github.com/uriel1998/ytcs

Steven Saus [he/him]Dec 3

@futurebird The other reason I mention it is that I can throw a YT link at it that others send me as well as my own subscriptions. It's really just a wrapper around much smarter people's work (mpv, yt-dlp, rofi), but it works well enough that it's my primary way of looking at it. I'm also thinking about figuring out how to integrate what it outputs more cleanly with an actual RSS reader like RSS guard instead.

emilianosandri Dec 3

@StevenSaus @futurebird Woah, that's very smart and Unix like 😀

Steven Saus [he/him]Dec 3

@emilianosandri @futurebird

:: blush ::

Thank you!

Olivier Mehani Dec 3

@futurebird The unhook browser extension https://unhook.app/ does a lot of clean-up on the UI, so you don't get distracted. You can remove all suggestions, links, autoplay, ...

I found it killed the “oh, that video sound interesting, too” effect. I now only watch videos related to something I was deliberately searching for.

Also good on kids' devices, with discussion of deliberate search vs. never-ending recommendations.

Unhook - Remove YouTube Recommended Videos and More

C. R. Collins 🌳 🐸Dec 3

Nebula is a great channel for independent videos.

Emily Velasco Dec 3

@crcollins @futurebird i was trying to tell someone about nebula the other day and for the life of me, i couldn't remember what it was called. Thank you!

Morgan ⚧️Dec 3

@crcollins @futurebird Nebula channels can also be followed on fedi, which I much prefer to YouTube notifications where it's mostly ads and they don't even necessarily tell you when people you subscribe to post videos

Cassandrich Dec 3

@futurebird Using UBO on desktop or NewPipe on mobile is nearly as good as cutting YouTube, and still gets you access to all the stuff on there.

@futurebird still can't quite wean myself off that one

still the best music-sharing platform on social media i've got

(but it is my hope that everybody seeing my posts is using yt-dlp wherever possible)

Morgan ⚧️Dec 3

@futurebird I'm hoping more Nebula-like projects pop up and/or more creators join. PeerTube would be even better, but right now it seems the main barrier to that move is monetization 😩 bc everyone's gotta eat but most viewers aren't willing to pay, so the videographers have to till the digital soil for pennies from advertising

That said, those who take sponsorships... Idk why they would need to stay on YouTube lol

kat donegan 🇵🇸✊Dec 3

@futurebird you've probably already heard of freetube/invidious/piped, but i thought i'd mention them in case you've not. i adore freetube (when it's working).

:EA DATA. SF:Dec 4

@futurebird
Many of the creators I like are on Nebula.

If you like science docs, you can get Curiosity Stream.

If you want to watch the original source of all the Brennan Lee Mulligan clips you see, you can get Dropout.

Support your local PBS and get to stream it using PBS Passport

Like movies?

None of these are free, but they aren't that expensive; PBS Passport can be as low as $5.00 a month, for example, and you get to watch Henry Louis Gates, Jr. make celebrities squirm on "Finding Your Roots"!

Bonus: none of them are massive, shitty companies run by sociopathic assholes (as far as I know).

#Streaming #StreamingWars #StreamingAlternatives #NebulaTV #CuriosityStream #DropoutTV #PBS #PBSPassport #TheCriterionChannel #Shudder

Nebula – Indie Streaming

Nebula is smart, thoughtful videos, podcasts, and classes from your favorite creators.

Nebula

@jrdepriest @futurebird Dropout and Nebula are the only streaming services I subscribe to.

Deb Nam-Krane Dec 3

@futurebird I took a hard no YouTube stance a few months ago, and it's changed the way I consume the internet itself. There's a bunch I'm missing out on, but I feel better.

I've softened a bit and watch some through my RSS reader...but there's more friction when I'm doing it, which forces me to be more conscious about it.

Emilio ʕ̡̢̡ʘ̅͟͜͡ʘ̲̅ʔ̢̡̢🇩🇰Dec 3

@dnkboston @futurebird people still addiction on youtube, amazon, X, facebook, and google also Microsoft. Those are so dirty businesses!

Deb Nam-Krane Dec 3

@Minimac Indeed. Our governments have let them get too big, and made it harder to break them up. @futurebird

Emilio ʕ̡̢̡ʘ̅͟͜͡ʘ̲̅ʔ̢̡̢🇩🇰Dec 3

@dnkboston @futurebird I can't believe what the heck wrong with governments... Just want more money ofc let people become zombies. My own eyes look who people still using the google I told them it is dangerous and guess what they not understand what is google for... I just can't it make me feel sick. HOLY SHIT so Amazon I work there for almost 10 years it getting worse fyi!

Deb Nam-Krane Dec 3

@Minimac I reviewed for Amazon for almost a decade--I enjoyed it--until it started becoming obviously controlled by algorithms. I ended up deleting everything I had there, not just reviews but also books I was selling. @futurebird

Emilio ʕ̡̢̡ʘ̅͟͜͡ʘ̲̅ʔ̢̡̢🇩🇰Dec 3

@dnkboston @futurebird I can't wait to get new job I focus school first because Amazon paid for it. I will graduate next year May then I will looking for new jobs before I quit Amazon for good. I warning people don't work Amazon they don't care what safety we need and number one is PACKAGES than co workers!

Deb Nam-Krane Dec 3

@Minimac I'm so sorry @futurebird

Emilio ʕ̡̢̡ʘ̅͟͜͡ʘ̲̅ʔ̢̡̢🇩🇰Dec 3

@dnkboston @futurebird Thank you We are so tired work 10-11 hours all day and two times 30 min break times during a day.

Deb Nam-Krane Dec 3

@Minimac Where are you? @futurebird

Emilio ʕ̡̢̡ʘ̅͟͜͡ʘ̲̅ʔ̢̡̢🇩🇰Dec 3

@dnkboston @futurebird I am from USA in Wisconsin

Deb Nam-Krane Dec 3

@Minimac It sounds like a violation of labor laws @futurebird

Emilio ʕ̡̢̡ʘ̅͟͜͡ʘ̲̅ʔ̢̡̢🇩🇰Dec 3

@dnkboston @futurebird Yes it big time!!! I feel something up in Wisconsin my doctor want me to get Union but idk how to get it.

Deb Nam-Krane Dec 3

@Minimac Maybe try contacting the IWW

Deb Nam-Krane Dec 3

@Minimac But I'm not an expert

Emilio ʕ̡̢̡ʘ̅͟͜͡ʘ̲̅ʔ̢̡̢🇩🇰Dec 3

@dnkboston no worry I will try my best to find information and union people came to Amazon warehouse then boss and HR kicked them out.

Deb Nam-Krane Dec 3

@Minimac See if anyone else at work is interested, then talk to the union people on your own. Then you can talk to the people at work.

Emilio ʕ̡̢̡ʘ̅͟͜͡ʘ̲̅ʔ̢̡̢🇩🇰Dec 3

@dnkboston I have to careful because they easy fired if say union at work.

Deb Nam-Krane Dec 3

@Minimac I'm sure

Nick Appleyard Dec 3

@futurebird
As a first step, if you get into a habit of not logging into Google then YouTube etc have less opportunity to profile you.

Agreed, this is a difficult one.

The amount of small engine knowledge alone that I've picked up has saved me tons.

Especially when you consider the stuff I "sort of" understood because of reading manuals and how-tos, but really grasped because of watching someone *do it*.

Barring something completely new taking its place, YT will definitely be one of the last BigCorpInternet things I pull away from.

Marc "ACAB" Godin Dec 3

@futurebird Please let us know how this goes with you. I've been thinking of leaving youtube for years and might make 2026 the year for that, but am overwhelmed at figuring out how (it's practically my TV and news right now which is not ideal).

everything_bagel

@futurebird YouTube’s done a good job cutting itself out of my life. Every time they make a change to the app, it’s for the worse. I basically don’t bother with it at all anymore, unless I’m looking for something very specific that really benefits from the video format. (My RSS reader—Reeder—also lets you subscribe to YouTube feeds, so I don’t need to rely on the app for discovery.)

James 🦉 #FBPE 🇪🇺Dec 3

@futurebird I tried Nebula and Curiosity Stream - they somewhat filled the stuff to fall asleep to niche, but still too many useful things on YouTube...

PensionDan Dec 3

@futurebird I am creating a video, but I'm not planning on uploading it to YouTube. (It's about a cool hiking trail near me.) Opinions about where I should upload it are welcome.

@danpmoore
@FediVideo recently posted links to some video creators of that topic. Maybe You can check their #PeerTube instances if it allows signup to post Your video:
https://social.growyourown.services/@FediVideo/115639748744072706
and
https://social.growyourown.services/@FediVideo/115622767603327846
@futurebird

Niederrheinländerin Dec 3

@danpmoore
Maybe check out if there's a Peertube instance for this kind of content, then create an account there. I had no experience with sharing videos before Peertube and I found it very straightforward. You can share the video via the link on a lot of platforms, even meta.

Morgan ⚧️Dec 3

@danpmoore @futurebird I suggest PeerTube, unless you're both expecting and dependent on ad revenue

perdidonavida Dec 3

@futurebird youtube is a really hard one, but I realized that sometimes there's no alternate service, and the alternative can be doing something else with my time. I ended up using less tech as a way to boycott big tech, and it's pretty effective. This can sound like a weird advice, but it's worth in the end. Many of us have some degree of addiction and excess of tech use anyway

Phosphenes Dec 3

Albeit corporate, I find YouTube still offers a lot of politically free and educational content. Of course there's crap too, but it's easy to avoid.

Whenever a creator I follow complains about censorship or 'the algorithm', I leave a comment describing the PeerTube option.

If I was a YT creator with a lot of followers I would mirror every video to PeerTube and link from the YT site. After a while the PT page would attract people directly.

rag. Gustavino Bevilacqua Dec 3

I always try to use Invidious to link videos.

AsarSameer Dec 3

@futurebird
This is great. It’s good to let go of things we don’t want in our lives that create a negative presence.
How I wish I could let go of this tent that stood with me through the war, but it seems it won’t survive the harsh winter. 💔
I want a home with walls, a door, and a lock to protect my children.
With your help, it won’t be difficult.
https://chuffed.org/project/131514-help-asar-and-her-family-survive-the-genocide

Help Asar and her family survive the genocide

Imagine waking up to find your home reduced to rubble, destroying everything you had and leaving you with nowhere to turn for safety and security. This is the reality of life for Asar, her husband, their three young sons Kareem, Quasi and Waleed, and their baby daughter Seela.

Chuffed

@futurebird Maybe step two is looking for more creators you like who aren’t on YouTube? Plan being that eventually you end up liking so many things that you have to make a choice (i.e. hitting the displays×24h limit), and then you can make that decision “easy” by always picking the non-Youtube one.

@futurebird For me, I realized that most of the videos I was watching on there didn't need the video component, so I downloaded AntennaPod and start listening to podcasts instead. It's worked beautifully! I've only opened YouTube once since then to view one specific video. I miss the creators I followed, but I've found lots of other wonderful people to listen to.

CurtAdams Dec 3

@futurebird I currently watch YouTube on Vivaldi with Ublock Origins. It works; I never see ads*; so I figure they're not getting any money from me and I don't mind using them.

*In the past I have had YouTube at times refuse to let me see vids. I have subscriptions to Nebula and CuriosityStream so I watch those instead for a day or two and then YouTube unblocks me. It's been months since this last happened, though.

If YouTube really blocked me for my adblocker I'd stop watching.

emilianosandri Dec 3

@futurebird As a temporary stopgap have you considered to use extensions such as Unhook. They allow you to remove stuff you may find distracting or annoying. For example I used it to disable video suggestions since many of them tried to attract views appealing to viewers fear or inadequacy using clickbait titles and thumbnails.

George Dorn Dec 4

@futurebird The Unhook extension changed my life. I might have already evangelized it to you, but it hides everything on YouTube involving the algorithm. No suggestions, only subscriptions and search. It pulled me out of a bad habit of wasting a lot of hours every day just picking the least boring video every time I finished one.

Steve Leach Dec 4

@futurebird YouTube is a hard one, there's not much in the way of any other platform that folks are really moving to yet.

I *Did* discover that one playlist (a Rust language course) I'd had bookmarked on YouTube is also on #PeerTube which I take as a positive sign that the platform might be getting large/popular enough to go somewhere.

But YouTube is just the default way we have of uploading and sharing content right now and it sucks because it would be entirely unusable without an ad blocker.

@futurebird
This is the tough one for me. There is stuff I would genuinely miss, stuff that I really value, that I would be missing without YouTube.

And yet...I want to be free of it.

I think the AI slop gradually taking over the platform will probably make it a lot easier soon. I'm not going to keep wading through slop. The experience is just getting worse & worse every day. So yeah, that helps. 😅

ಚಿರಾಗ್ 🌹✊🏾Ⓥ🌱🇵🇸 (he/him)Jan 10

@futurebird Like a few others in this thread, Nebula and Dropout are my primary platforms for video content nowadays. I still use YT, mainly for creators who are not on any other platforms, and I rarely use the official YT app (usually NewPipe on Android or yt-dlp on the computer). It's not perfect, but I've gotten my YT usage down by ~80%.

@futurebird I cancelled prime on prime day.
I like to imagine Jeff Bezos shouting at the sky that I "ruined his prime day!". ( One can dream. )

Deb Nam-Krane Dec 3

@futurebird They notice--thank you, data surveillance.

You know who notices even more minutely? Finance companies we* have credit cards with. So much so that you don't have to boycott entirely--just spend less, and they will get nervous. They are the only ones who benefit from our debt.

*I do not have a credit card, just a debit card, but I don't kid myself that I'm not part of "we"

Misuse Case Dec 3

@futurebird I heard Amazon makes more money from advertising than from selling goods. They will notice reduced traffic on their site because people are avoiding them.

Emilio ʕ̡̢̡ʘ̅͟͜͡ʘ̲̅ʔ̢̡̢🇩🇰Dec 3

@MisuseCase @futurebird I can't wait and cut 10-11 hours soon because I work there.