I won’t argue with the fact that these systems are designed to defeat your ability to control your habits.

But it is possible, without having to install tech to defeat these systems for you.

I think, as with most bad habits, the easiest way to defeat them is to never start them to begin with.

If you haven’t ever smoked, don’t start. If you haven’t ever gotten hooked on Shorts/Reels, don’t start.

I watch YouTube quite often, but only long form content. I even watch some content that takes me multiple nights to finish (e.g. a 5-hour stream of a great board game). I think the only time I’ve watched a Short was accidentally, or if someone shared one with me (fewer than a handful of times).

It also helps if your friends/family don’t do those things too (e.g. so they don’t keep sharing them with you).

But 100% agree that ideally, platforms would give us control over the types of content that show up.

The best I can do on YouTube is to subscribe to channels that don’t do Shorts, and only use Subscriptions as my feed. This has been quite effective.

I don’t even use Instagram (and definitely not TikTok).

My biggest vices are HN and Board Game Geek, but I feel that’s relatively tame (but I could still have healthier habits even with those).