It’s fair to say a lot of people’s sleep patterns are pretty messed up right now. Lockdowns and pandemics have played havoc with people’s routines causing higher rates of stress and generally morning grumpiness as we gorge ourselves at the buffet of all you can eat internet far more than we should be doing.
It’s difficult sometimes to break away from your binge viewing and YouTube has recognized that while it may not be good for ad revenues, nonstop watching is not good for its viewer’s health.
To help out a little bit this week they have launched Bedtime Reminders along with some other features to help you moderate your screen time.
In a support thread on Google a YouTube spokesperson said: “In 2018, we launched a suite of features to help manage your time on YouTube, including setting a reminder to take a break. Since we introduced this feature, we’ve sent more than 3 billion take a break reminders, and today we’re expanding these tools and launching bedtime reminders, so you can set times to be prompted to go to bed and better manage your sleep schedule.”
Whether you consider yourself a power user or just like watching videos from time to time, we want to help everyone better understand their tech usage, disconnect when needed, and create healthy habits.
The new feature allows you to pop into settings and set a time you would like Youtube to tell you to put down your device and get some shut-eye. It seems strange that we, as sentient beings, need reminding that we are literally falling asleep while binging on season two of Cobra Kai but one look our kids should highlight that we need some prompting as well.
YouTube continued: “Every single person uses YouTube differently. Some of us use it to learn new things, while others use it when they need a laugh or to stay in touch with their favorite creators. Whether you consider yourself a power user or just like watching videos from time to time, we want to help everyone better understand their tech usage, disconnect when needed, and create healthy habits. We hope all of these features help you do just that! “
It’s a thoughtful new feature and it is always good to see tech giants adding elements for the greater good rather than just their bank balances.
