this post was submitted on 28 Apr 2025

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My Journey to Quitting YouTube: A Personal Experience (lemy.lol)

submitted 20 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hey, deGoogle community! I wanted to share my personal experience with quitting YouTube, a journey that has been both challenging and liberating.

Initially, I started my deGoogle journey by cutting back on various Google services, but when it came to YouTube, I found it incredibly hard to let go. I tried using alternatives like NewPipe and FreeTube—both fantastic FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) options that allowed me to access YouTube content without the usual Google baggage. However, despite these alternatives, I still felt trapped in the cycle of daily YouTube usage and the addictive nature of the platform.

To tackle this, I decided to take a more drastic approach. I implemented a DNS block using AdGuard DNS and NextDNS, which helped me create a network-wide blocklist for Google services. In the first two weeks, I found myself turning the DNS off occasionally, creating two profiles in NextDNS to allow Google services when I felt the urge creeping back in. It was a struggle, but I knew I needed to break free.

Gradually, I began replacing my YouTube watch time with journaling and diving into topics that truly interested me, particularly various philosophies. After about four weeks, I was amazed to find that I no longer felt the urge to watch YouTube at all! However, I still have my doubts about returning to the platform, fearing it might reignite my addiction and lead me back into a FOMO (fear of missing out) mindset. To safeguard against this, I’ve kept my no-Google filters active in NextDNS.

I also discovered alternatives like PeerTube, thanks to creators like The Linux Experiment and TechLore, who actively post content there. Platforms like Loop, Pixelfed, Mastodon, and Lemmy have also become integral parts of my online life, providing me with a sense of community and connection without the overwhelming distractions of YouTube.

By de-Googling and stepping away from YouTube, I’ve reclaimed so much of my life. While many tout YouTube as a great social platform for mental health, I’ve found the opposite to be true for me. Without the constant distractions and the pressure to consume content that often felt useless, I’ve experienced a newfound clarity and peace of mind.

Now, I have more time to help my mom, focus on my own projects, and enjoy moments of solitude that have significantly reduced my stress levels.

YouTube can be a helpful platform for many, but for me, it was a different story. I initially thought it would lead me to greater privacy and understanding of FOSS services, but instead, I found myself entangled in a web of privacy violations and creepy policies. The community here has been instrumental in guiding me toward FOSS alternatives that respect my privacy.

I’m curious—does anyone else have experiences with quitting YouTube or trying to? I’d love to hear your stories and insights!

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Sorry but YouTube is such a wealth of tutorial information that quitting it cuts you off from huge amounts of info that you (nowadays) can't really find through search engines.

Tutorials for self-hosting, embedded development, analog design, gardening tutorials, etc...

A lot of these you literally cannot find online anywhere except for tiny bits and pieces through forum posts that take hours just to put them all together. Most blog posts nowadays are so horribly written on technical subjects and leave so much out as "implicit knowledge" that they are mostly unusable except by people who are already experts, which negates the point. (Shout out to gamersnexus which has a fast, no-ad website with all of the results from their lab testing on their with text write-ups and charts)

YouTube is expensive as all fuck to run. This is why alternatives will never take off unless they have a solid monetization model (e.g. floatplane). Sorry, but people on home internet with 100 down and 30 up aren't going to be able to host peertube nodes and stream 4k video to more than a couple people. Text and music work well decentralized, but people start to become a lot less able to contribute when hosting costs become hundreds per month and their home internet is saturated and barely usable instead of single digits with light traffic. This isn't even mentioning content creators' monetization.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

For some people that can't cut out Youtube entirely.

Leechblock + unhook + not logged in

Is a pretty decent combo. Both Leechblock and Unhook are browser plugins ment to crack down on doom scrooling(viewing).

As for keeping track of subscriptions, pen and paper is a good strategy.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 hours ago

I used to keep track of my playlists with my browser bookmarks, watching the videos themselves in mpv, and the channels I just memorized and checked from time to time. But later switched to using Freetube, that has built-in subscriptions, playlists and history tracking.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago

I really like the idea of using pen and paper as an alternative to subscribing with a Google account! It definitely makes it clearer what we’re following and helps us be more intentional about what we watch.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

I only use YouTube for normie subscriptions, the ones that don't challenge the oligarch status quo. I use alternative (add blocking) viewers, SmartTube on Firestick, Freetube on PC/phone/tablet. For content creators that push the mainstream narrative, I use Rumble. I hate the adds though, and you can use AdGuard DNS and such to block them, I haven't had the time to set that up. Rumble at least allows free speech, non-censorship, which is most important to me. Google is a YUGE censorship hound, and Youtube is no exception.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

I'd like to give up YouTube but I don't know of any equivalent for practical knowledge. When I needed to know how to use a torque wrench today, YouTube had someone with 10 views and no nonsense. I follow big YouTubers like Project Farm because they're better than Consumer Reports.

I don't understand YouTube as a social platform at all. For me the only social part of YouTube is being able to ask follow up questions about a LadyAda video on microcontroller programming.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago

I understand you! The issue I have with YouTube is mindlessly spending time on it. The algorithm feeds me too much information, but none of it is useful for me. Also, there's the fear of missing out (FOMO).

The platform itself is awesome, and the majority of people don't want or need to quit using it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 13 hours ago

That's what I'm mostly interested in as well. I recommend checking out makertube.net. It doesn't have the content yet, but I have high hopes for it in the long run.

On a possibly-related note, I couldn't remember the URL so I tried to look it up. DDG gave results for the Mastodon and Patreon accounts, but the makertube.net Peertube site itself wasn't in the first page of results at all. Or the second page, or the third page (I didn't check beyond that). I was down in the weeds of random German blog posts talking about it without finding the actual site. That's a capital-P problem, and the more conspiratorial side of me is suspicious about it.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (1 children)

PeerTube is frustrating. I've tried a few times now. Downloaded the app to my phone, can't find a single place I can create an account. I looked at multiple ~~instances(?)~~ platforms and they all said they weren't allowing new accounts at the time. I'm not doing any social media anywhere as a guest who can't save their account. My phone broke and has been replaced so I'll give it another try. Like everything else, I'm just phasing things out. Once there are some sorts of replacements, I try to get used to them, and then I can at least delete the things I'm trying to move away from. I learned this lesson the hard way when I deleted my facebook account at the beginning of the first trump regime, not having adequately backed up all the contacts I made there. In the end, none of this social media is reality so it doesn't matter. We just form attachments that can become worse than addictions.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 hours ago

What bothers me is that Youtube replacement is a way more harder task than replacing Twitter or Reddit... The bandwidth and storage costs would grow unaffordable way too quickly for a volunteer. I would really like to see Youtube videos backed up, because I am really afraid Google will eventually loginwall it... But seems like the only realistic way for it is distributing the storage and bandwidth. Like, Peertube does utilize torrents, but the instance still has to have each video in full. I wouldn't mind seeding just my personal video downloads, but haven't seen a repository where the torrents could be published and seen.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 18 hours ago

I would quit youtube immediately but there are some good content creators that don't post their videos elsewhere and I do want to watch them. Gladly there's FreeTube for that.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

I think YouTube would be the toughest for me to quit as well. But I use it almost exclusively for music; I listen to a lot of underground/independent artists and its just so easy to find everything I want, and their algorithm works decently well so that I can discover or rediscover artists. Being able to use the app on my TV is another attractive part of it too. I admit I havent spent too much time in newpipe or any of the other alternatives; it would probably get easier if I made myself use it and ease in but I just don't!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Respect.

I haven't quit or tried to, but:

I do things while I've got YouTube on in the background more than I dedicate my attention to it. Writing code, playing a video game, etc.
I almost never log in to YouTube. And I clear my cookies at least daily. So I don't succumb to "the algorithm" very much. I do use NewPipe on my phone for music and such, but again, no algorithm involved. But generally I go specifically to what I want to watch or search specifically for what I want to watch and watch it. I also turn autoplay off.
I have published videos on YouTube, but I'm resolved not to any more. Any more videos I might make in the future, I'll put on PeerTube.

I have a short list of creators I follow (but without using things like the bell/subscription feature on YouTube). Short enough that I can keep the list in my head. One of those creators I also support on Patreon.

I guess all that to say, I do hedge my use of YouTube, but quitting isn't on my radar any time soon.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago

As you mentioned, I also tried having YouTube play in the background while doing tasks, but it didn't work at all for me. When I finish a task, I realize I didn't clearly hear or understand anything from the video! 😅

I don't believe NewPipe is completely algorithm-free; it still operates based on algorithms, but you get different content if you're using a VPN, as it changes your location. However, most of the time, I receive a 'content unavailable' message when using a VPN.

It's great that you've decided to publish videos on PeerTube! But it would be nice if you could make a switch by posting videos on both platforms for a while, and slowly stop posting contents on YouTube.