Age? Social group(s) you're in? I not only don't get confusion from telling anyone I have no social profiles or account on any web service, I can't even recall the last time anyone asked. I suspect the probability of this happening to you depends pretty heavily on the peer group you're interacting with, possibly the country you're in. I continue to meet and exchange contact info with new people every now and again. It's always phone numbers and nobody has asked for anything else.
Hell, as much as it may be a bad thing compared to a healthy information ecosystem and better balance of physical activity with passive video consumption, I'm not even sure an addiction to an algorithmic content feed is all that bad compared to many other alternatives. Consider many countries are still in the midst of epidemics of opioid addiction. I think my wife might be "addicted" to YouTube. She seems more interested in watching endless Bob Ross episodes than anything else in life right now, but ultimately it has her painting and that isn't terrible. She's also an alcoholic and that's an addiction that put her in the ICU for 5 days twice in the decade we've been married. My best friend from high school tried to quit cold turkey in 2016 and died at the age of 36 from physiological withdrawal symptoms because she detoxed at home and not in an ICU. I'd much rather have my wife sucked into algorithmic rabbit holes than finding those duffle bags of empty bottles this author talks about.
While I'm sure there are more productive ways to use your time, YouTube is at least not directly killing anyone, and if you're getting some useful information or entertainment value or both from it, that's a heck of a lot better than other things you could get addicted to.
Hell, as much as it may be a bad thing compared to a healthy information ecosystem and better balance of physical activity with passive video consumption, I'm not even sure an addiction to an algorithmic content feed is all that bad compared to many other alternatives. Consider many countries are still in the midst of epidemics of opioid addiction. I think my wife might be "addicted" to YouTube. She seems more interested in watching endless Bob Ross episodes than anything else in life right now, but ultimately it has her painting and that isn't terrible. She's also an alcoholic and that's an addiction that put her in the ICU for 5 days twice in the decade we've been married. My best friend from high school tried to quit cold turkey in 2016 and died at the age of 36 from physiological withdrawal symptoms because she detoxed at home and not in an ICU. I'd much rather have my wife sucked into algorithmic rabbit holes than finding those duffle bags of empty bottles this author talks about.
While I'm sure there are more productive ways to use your time, YouTube is at least not directly killing anyone, and if you're getting some useful information or entertainment value or both from it, that's a heck of a lot better than other things you could get addicted to.