About a month ago, I’d spend an hour on YouTube Shorts. Tired of that—I’d end up on Bluesky, then X. Read the news and get irritated. Futz around. Back to YouTube!

One day I had enough. No More Algorithms.

Getting off algorithms sounds agreeable enough, but I got off the news as well, which sounds like a trite and privileged thing to do. You could say, “not everyone can tune out!” and you’d have a fair point.

I’m not trying to “tune out” per se—at least not to the world’s problems. But the trap is to watch like it’s The Hunger Games, a state violence reality show. Ultimately, witnessing violence isn’t the same as helping.

My actual goal is to keep informed about the people being affected and try to help. This can be friends, family, or people I don’t know.

Can I do that without the news?

So I told you the Why, here is the How:

  1. Turn off YouTube recommendations.

    Delete the YouTube mobile app. Turn off recommendations.

    Now, YouTube just shows me a nice blank page! And Shorts fail to load.

    I use the Unhook Firefox extension to remove the video-specific recommendations. This, of course, only works on my computer. On my TV I just have to be diligent.

    blank youtube

  2. Get off X. Seriously.

    I really tried Bluesky, but it didn’t take off, and didn’t have the type of content I was looking for. I marked my X account private, deleted my old tweets, the whole thing.

    But I still ended up lurking multiple times a day, and would have friends send me product announcements, commentary, etc…

    My current solution is the Twitter to Nitter Firefox extension, which safely redirects any inbound X links to a logged-out site. I just read a tweet and click off it.

    I just don’t go on Bluesky anymore.

  3. Stop reading the news.

    This only works on my computer—my phone requires willpower & diligence.

    On my computer I use the LeechBlock NG Firefox extension. I have blocked:

    • axios.com
    • npr.org
    • nytimes.com
    • theverge.com
    • vox.com

    These are all news sources I’d frequent, and I find of reasonably high quality or pace. I can still access them in Incognito Mode, but this is usually enough friction for me to cut the behavior.

    I still read a few link aggregators, or things I found less likely to activate manufactured rage or malfeasance.

    • Hacker News
    • Lobste.rs
    • AI Newsletter — curated weekly papers.
    • A few longer-form, political podcasts. Also some that explicitly focus on international relations.

    If something really big, or really personal, happens: I find out pretty quick anyway.

Now the Why and the How: is all this worth it? It may seem a little extreme, but the pattern has largely stuck. This is of-course, anecdotal.

I feel I have more consistent energy levels and emotional regulation.

Instead of scrolling I end up ideating more on my startup, consuming longer-form media like movies, books, or video games, & spending time with friends.

I’m not deluded about how dark the political climate is, especially in the United States, but acting on things I have agency over has made me a more positive person. And I spend more time listening.

Sometimes you’ll catch me surfing YouTube on my TV (the suggestions under the videos, sneaky things) or binging out X on my phone.

But largely these sources have shown themselves to be fairly high noise, and for me, I’m happy without them.