YouTube Shorts launches a daily viewing limit to keep doomscrolling at bay

On YouTube Shorts it is extraordinarily easy to get entangled in the tentacles of the addictive videos that normally make their way there. And even though we often break into this platform with the intention of watching just one or two videos, we sometimes end up glued to the screen for several hours (and also sleeping fewer hours than would be reasonable and healthy). “Doomscrolling” is an extraordinarily common evil on YouTube Shorts and losing track of time on this platform is unfortunately the order of the day.

Even though the addictive component of YouTube Shorts is something that obviously fits this platform like a glove (since the longer the user stays on their domains, the more ads they potentially consume), The Google subsidiary has released a new feature to help its users keep “doomscrolling” at bay.

YouTube Shorts yesterday lifted the curtain on a feature that allows users of its mobile app to set a daily limit for viewing videos on its platform. Available in Settings in the General section of the application, this new feature sends the user a notification when they have exceeded the daily viewing limit that they have previously set.

While the user is obviously free to ignore that notification and continue compulsively devouring videos on YouTube Shorts, The new daily limit of the platform is still useful to return the user to reality and perhaps order them to sleep or get to work (if doomscrolling occurs during work hours).

YouTube already has other functions aimed at putting a damper on “doomscrolling”

«Shorts are a very important part of the YouTube experience», supports the famous video platform. However, “establishing a daily time limit on the Shorts feed allows the user to explore this platform and simultaneously be more conscious of their viewing habits to manage time more efficiently,” adds YouTube.

It is not in any case the first time that YouTube releases functions to stop the perverse “doomscrolling” in its domains. And its app already has the “Take a Break” and “Bedtime” functionalities. Furthermore, and even though other social networks (Instagram and TikTok, for example) also have similar functions, YouTube was once one of the first platforms to make tools available to its users to help them look away from the mobile screen.

According to experts, Measures such as the new daily viewing limit launched by YouTube are actually only effective for some userswhile other people are unlikely to change their consumption habits no matter how much they are confronted with alarms and notifications ordering them to stop consuming videos.

YouTube Shorts generated an average of 70 billion views per day last year. And despite what it may seem like soon, the addiction to this platform sinks its claws not only into Generation Alpha and Generation Z. In fact, the age group between 25 and 34 years (which brings together millennials and centennials simultaneously) It is the one that consumes the most videos on this platform.