I heavily use the "Not interested" and the "Do not recommend this channel" options a lot and don't click on clickbait, and use the DeArrow extension, and this way my front page looks quite good.

I've started putting together a curated directory of (subjectively) good YouTube channels and videos [1]. It's literally the 3rd day, so not many entries yet, but I plan to continue growing it like I did with Minifeed [2].

1. https://skyshelf.app/

2. https://minifeed.net/

That’s not an argument against the comment you responded to.

If I just took any random 20 creators I’m subscribed to on YouTube, the premium membership fee, which includes YT Music, is more valuable than any of the other streaming services.

The only other streaming service I’ve been a paying member even longer than YouTube is di.fm

I also occasionally pay for a few months or bassdrive.com and or soma.fm

For movies / series, I’m back to sharing.

Disabled recommendations. Disabled comments (firefox plugin). Use subscriptions page as the homepage (firefox plugin). Only subscribe to channels that interest me (and aren't annoying like that).

The browser extension "DeArrow" is well worth a look.

Firefox + uBlock Origin on smartphone and desktop = no ads (though I personally prefer Vivaldi on desktop, but for simplicity just recommend Firefox)

SmartTube on Android TV has no ads and skip sponsors

so all you need to remember are two apps FF (+uBO) and SmartTune on TV, you install it once and don't care anymore, comparably difficult with payment for YT

nowhere near comparable experience if you want to seamlessly use your YT account across a TV + phone + computer

i'd rather pay the $10 than pay with my time by being an ad-block whack-a-mole diagnostician

I mean it’s just $10. People are making livelihoods based off from YouTube. I get not liking ads, but if you have the option to go ad free for a low cost, why not do it? Do you pay for any of Netflix, Paramount, AppleTV, etc.?

I prefer Tubular with Sponsorblock

I find YT to be very sloppy nowadays. Not so much AI content as content that is over-optimized for clicks and revenue. 80% filler and maybe 20% substance.

I should probably de-algoify my YT experience.

I judge ppl who are brainwashed enough to pay for youtube premium and watch videos based on their thumbnails.

There are problems with YouTube and the library is free.

https://dataspace.princeton.edu/handle/88435/dsp01dz010t34x

Is there anything you can watch on premium that can’t watch on YouTube for free?

If you don't watch on mobile, is there anything that YouTube Premiums gives you that an ad-blocker doesn't?

is there a difference between youtube premium and youtube-with-adblocking?

That's your right; I consider myself a very curious person but I never watch YouTube (I have watched less than 10 minutes in 2026).

I prefer to read news and information. What little exposure to YouTube personalities and editing styles I've had annoys me to no end.

I judge people who watch that much youtube as susceptible to disinformation.

Video is a terrible learning format for most information. I actually judge people who learn primarily through video as having very low information parsing throughput.