A few days ago, I logged into YouTube on my browser, and almost all the recommended videos on the homepage seemed worthy of the “Watch later” playlist.
The problem, however, is that I rarely return to the “Watch later” videos. The algorithm provides fresh, engaging content the moment the page is refreshed.
Content is abundant online—much more than we can consume.
Content engines are also becoming increasingly adept at engaging our curiosity and interests. With further technological advancements and the rise of AI tools, content creation has never been easier, and the content supply will only grow exponentially.
This reality is both exciting and scary.
On one hand, quality information is readily available at our fingertips. Previously, premium knowledge was limited to elites and came at a high cost. Now, you can easily learn about diverse topics—from programming to woodworking and entrepreneurship to parenting—all for free with just a few clicks.
On the other hand, the ubiquity of information leaves us at risk of potential information overload.
In his bestseller, Limitless, Jim Kwik describes four villains that hinder our ability to think and focus properly. One of them is what he calls “digital deluge” (the other three are digital distraction, digital dementia, and digital deduction. Jim seems to have a thing for rhymes and mnemonics).
It is said that we are now exposed to as much information in a single day as an average person was exposed to in a lifetime. I am not certain of the validity or correctness of that claim, but one thing is sure: we are bombarded with more input than we can efficiently process at any given time.
Another danger of the overabundance of digital stimulants is its effect on our time and attention.
Statistics reveal that over 500000 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube daily. Given the average length of 12 minutes for each video, this equates to approximately 2.5 million videos per day. If you were to watch every video uploaded in a single day, it would take you 57 years (a lifetime) of continuous 24-hour viewing to finish them all. Now, that’s wild!
And this is just YouTube. We also have Instagram, TikTok, and all the other platforms competing for our attention.
Where does all of this leave us?
We might as well establish that attempting to limit or control the data supply online is a wild goose chase and likely not worth the effort or resources. We have lost the reins over the decentralized digital space, which seems to be in autopilot mode. The data surge will only worsen in the coming years.
We cannot control the overwhelming availability of information around us, but we can certainly control how we interact with that excess information.
Firstly, it is impossible to keep up with everything online. Choose your corner of the internet and stick with it. You can even define the opportunity cost of your choices. This way, your mind easily recognizes the foregone alternatives as distractions.
The battle for our time and attention is intense; only those who deliberately manage these limited resources will prevail.
Of course, mindless scrolling is a potent recipe for all the adverse effects of the digital era. However, attempting to control this virus has proven easier said than done.
Short-form videos are the Trojan horse that seems to be eroding our already diminished attention span. I have apps and extensions to limit my exposure to them, yet I still bypass these limits more frequently than I’d like to admit.
You can also take it further by disabling YouTube homepage recommendations (there are browser extensions for that, too). This eliminates potential distractions, increasing your chances of maintaining focus on your intended content.
Whatever the case, fight for your time and attention.
Everyone has only 24 hours a day, and that’s all we get. The currency of time is fixed and non-renewable. Committing your time to anything comes at the expense of everything else you could be doing in that moment, and sometimes, the forgone alternative cannot be rescheduled.