YouTube now has a strange tool for folks to see how long they watch little clips. They are testing a clock that lets you set how long to watch each day. Then, when time is up, YouTube shows a note saying Stop looking at clips for now. This is to tell watchers to rest a bit instead of always watching lots of small vids. Yet, the note can go away, so people can still watch more if they like to do so.
This thing showed up as YouTube feels more stress to look at issues with being too hooked and social media messing up minds. Many folks watch Shorts thinking just one, but find an hour has passed after doing that thing. YouTube wants the clock to aid people in handling that act more on purpose. It’s a nod to talks on how much sites must do to push good online habits.
The clock for Shorts first popped up months back on Android Authority in a file, then YouTube said it was doing that thing. Now, the clock does not tie to kid locks, so moms and dads can’t set limits for kid watching time yet. YouTube says this will change next year when kid locks are added for real. Then, kids can’t make the pop-ups go away, making it work more for all families.
This isn’t the first curious move by YouTube to help folks feel good online. They’ve already put out odd things like Time Out signals and Sleepy Time pings. The Time Out thing lets you pick pop-ups after you watch for a bit, like 15, 30, 60, 90, or 180 minutes. When it pops up, the clip stops, and you can chill or shoo it away. The Sleepy Time ping is much the same, letting you set a chunk of time when you want a nudge to stop watching and hit the hay. These gizmos are here to give folks a light push toward good viewing vibes without being too bossy.
But still, these pings are up to you, so they might not cut down screen time much. Folks can shrug them off and keep watching stuff. This shows the funny dance YouTube is doing looking like they care about online feels while not messing with their big plan, which needs clicks and ads. By tossing in limits you can skip, YouTube can say they like healthy habits, but keep folks on their site.
This also drops when social sites are getting heat and lawsuits. Bloomberg Law says there are almost 2,000 suits in the U.S. against big social spots. These suits say these spots made addicting things on purpose that hurt kids’ brains. Things like never-ending scrolling and robot picks have been big worries. YouTube’s new timer thing can look like a move to show they hear these worries, even if it doesn’t fix all the problems.
In general, the time limit thing for quick videos on YouTube seems helpful for smart usage. It lets people handle their viewing time better, but keeps things loose enough so they still like using it. If this helps folks handle their video habits, or if it looks good on paper, it depends on what people think of it. It also depends on whether YouTube really cares about making online health a real focus, not just a side thing you can turn on if you want.
