Contemporary social media algorithms are designed to keep users scrolling for as long as possible. If that system leaves you feeling overstimulated and worn out, YouTube has a new solution for you. A timer puts a hard stop on YouTube Shorts activity after a fixed period of time.
YouTube published a blog post to announce its new time management tool. Interested users can put a cap on their scrolling by venturing into the Settings tab in the YouTube Shorts app. When the chosen limit arrives, a pop-up notification will interrupt the chosen video — though that prompt can be dismissed if a user wants to keep watching.
Android Authority first noticed the Shorts timer earlier this year, when the feature was still in development. “Shorts are a core part of the YouTube experience,” reads the post. “Setting a scrolling time limit on the Shorts feed allows for this exploration while helping users be more deliberate about their viewing habits and manage their time effectively.”
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The Shorts timer joins several other YouTube products that pull users out of doomscrolling rabbit holes. In 2018, the platform invited its denizens to “take a break” after reaching a certain amount of watch time. A sleep timer arrived years later to assist viewers who want to wind down with some relaxing videos (but might not want to stay up for hours doing so).
Other platforms, like Instagram, have rolled out their own controls to curb marathon scrolling sessions. That trend has always had an ironic edge to it, since the platforms themselves are the ones who make their feeds so hard to quit.
Pressure from parents has helped convince Big Tech firms that they have a reponsibility to make their layouts less sticky. In its coverage of the Shorts timer, eMarketer cited data from Pew that revealed widely-held concerns about social media platforms and their effects on young users. 55% of the parents who responded to the Pew survey said they were “extremely or very concerned about teen mental health.”
With YouTube persisting as the most familiar platform among teens, the Google-owned hub is in a position to set sensible controls on the activity of underage users. The Shorts timer is one part of that effort, but for it to be effective, users have to agree when they’re told it’s time for a breather.
