Confession

I don't think this is much of a shocking confession, but it definitely is serious. I have an addiction; a terrible, terrible addiction to YouTube. I'm sure this is fairly common in our digital age -- I hate phrases like that, but it seems appropriate at the moment. I've come to realize that my fascination with Internet videos is becoming detrimental to my lifestyle. I'll watch pretty much anything, music videos, personal vlogs, comedians, random viral videos, educational lessons, school projects, babies laughing, vacation memories, preschool graduations, robot stuff, cooking shows, the list goes on infinitely. I know it hasn't always been like this though. When YouTube first launched, I found it interesting, but would only go on the site if there was a link to a specific video and that was it. Time went on, more content was created, and now I feel a void if I haven't watched at least a few videos a day.

Scenario 1 - Checking Subscriptions: I'm always logged on to my account, so when I go to YouTube, the first thing I see are the latest videos from the 45 channels that I'm subscribed to. That typically takes an hour or so to go through. From there, I usually get sucked into the YT black hole of no return with that 'Related Videos' column, or if the original video that I clicked on was a response to something else, or if there were any responses to the original video.

Scenario 2 - Links: Friends typically share links if they make something or find something cool or funny. Other websites also link to YouTube for a variety of things. Again with the evil 'Related Videos' column...

Scenario 3 - Search: Every so often something interesting will pop into my mind and I'll think "hmm, I wonder if there is anything on YouTube about this..." Begin vicious cycle.

Scenario 4 - Completely Random: There is no explanation to how I got to a video or why I'm still watching it. I just am, and I can't stop.

As much as I enjoy watching videos on YouTube, I lack self-control in this area. I can usually control myself when it comes to stuff like this -- I stopped watching as much TV as I did when I was younger, I don't eat as much as I used to, but I can't kick this YouTube thing! It caused sleepless nights, homework going undone, corny jokes to be made, and a sad dependence on user-created content!

My lack of work in my Calculus class has inspired this entry. I have all the intention of coming online and getting 3-4 assignments done in one sitting, but I get sucked in to YT. I'll look at the little clock in my system tray and set time limits, but I always end up ignoring them. "Ok, I'll start working at 1am" Looks at clock, It's 1:59am. Sigh. I hate that I disappoint myself more than I disappoint others.