YouTube is currently forcing its new Shorts feature on its users.

The aim of this petition is to make YT give users an option to switch off:

• Shorts recommendations from the newsfeed
• Shorts shortcut from the navigation bar

Ideally, YT should also add an option to set a minimum length for videos that they can recommend to you.

It's common knowledge that YouTube introduced its Shorts feature as a response to the growing popularity of TikTok. Unlike TikTok, YouTube cannot be easily uninstalled from an android device. This makes it much harder to self-manage possible attention, addiction, and productivity issues.

YouTube also contains lots of mid and long-form, valuable content that most users would like to access, without being bothered with Shorts recommendations.

Of course Shorts content, can also be valuable and meaningful, but it's certainly more addictive.

If YouTube truly cares about the digital well-being of its users, they should leave the choice up to the user. Currently, there is no such option.

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What you can do now?

1. Sign this petition - this will help to show a transparent, undeniable number of people, that would like to see this change introduced
2.  Submit feedback to YouTube on having an option to switch off Shorts - this, unfortunately, isn't transparent but will give YT a sign of user needs.

Further reading on social media addiction and the short video role in it:

• Social Media Short Video-Sharing TikTok Application and Ethics: Data Privacy and Addiction Issues
• Social media addiction: Its impact, mediation, and intervention
• A review of theories and models applied in studies of social media addiction and implications for future research
• A Study on the Influencing Factors on Flow & Addiction of Tiktok Service Users
• Viewing personalized video clips recommended by TikTok activates default mode network and ventral tegmental area

Let's make it happen.