Lol funny you mention RSS. I LOVE my RSS feeds - I’ve been building my subscription list for decades. I used other services before Google Reader, now I use feedly (what do you use?).

I subscribe to hundreds of RSS feeds of all sorts - from technical blogs to news feeds. I always try to explain to people that I get a “firehose” of content sorted by timestamp. I don’t have an algorithm choosing which data to prioritize.

Did you know that Aaron Swartz (one of the original reddit developers) was also a leader who developed the RSS standards? God the word lost a great man - imagine what he could have done for humanity if he lived a full life.

I suspect it will be the same story with Youtube for me. I really don’t need to be watching Youtube 95% of the time. I tune in to videos because it’s convenient. If Google is going to make it inconvenient, the value proposition changes and I’d rather do something else to fill my time. I wonder if there will be backlash from creators now that many users are inherently disincentivized from visiting Youtube…

Funny thing is that I usually use Youtube for DIY repair videos. Now ChatGPT and simple google searches (to confirm info) have replaced most of my needs. I even use Chat to teach me how to use new software (which I would formally watch videos to learn).

Besides, I really don’t watch television/videos in general. I have far more important things to do with my free time like running a small business and micro homestead to live an almost fully self sufficient lifestyle. I find skimming RSS feeds and reading selected articles a far more efficient use of my free time (I only used to visit reddit for the occasional social interaction with fellow enthusiasts of whatever topic, and hope that kbin/fediverse will replace that ‘itch’)