Cutting TikToks out of my life

I find the short-form algorithm-chooses-next content of TikTok/Instagram Reels/YouTube Shorts compelling. Once I start watching it's easy for me to drop 10, 20, 30 minutes into watching videos and at the end I only regret the time I've spent. I've rarely learned anything, I'm rarely inspired to do something in my own life.

I've found it pretty frustrating that none of the apps that present this short form content will let me turn them off. I couldn't go to Facebook and make it never show them to me, same with Instagram and Youtube.

I've managed this a few ways over time. I deleted Facebook and Instagram from my phone. Then I'd be free until some other force (like Facebook Marketplace) tricked me into installing an app again. Or I was mostly free, since YouTube on the desktop would occasionally lure me in.

Our family recently took a two week cruise, on which Internet was $25/day. So we didn't pay for it. It was amazing! A real break. This also meant that I spent two weeks completely free of the short form video format. So it was time to take further steps:

1. Delete Facebook
   I've deleted my account. They're a shit company, doing shitty things, they don't need to make money off me anymore. Every person who gets off the platform also makes it less valuable for their friends.
2. Block YouTube Shorts
   I've installed a "YouTube Enhancer" an extension (for Firefox and Chrome) that removes YouTube shorts from your page. This closed the desktop loophole, while still allowing me to use YouTube.
3. Block Domains
   I've blocked YouTube, Reddit, Facebook, and Instagram on my phone.

So for the moment at least, I'm free.