making youtube fun again (for me)

this is how i've been using youtube the past few months. i allow the algorithm to happen to me. i scroll through my youtube homepage and look at thumbnails and titles, mostly clickbait, sometimes an obscure music compilation with less than 1,000 views. when a video looks like something i might want to watch, i click on the three dots to the right of the video title and channel name. i save the video to one of two playlists: quick watches for videos running fewer than 11 minutes longform for videos running longer than 11 minutes i don't watch the videos immediately. i just keep the two lists growing for a few days, sometimes weeks. when i'm finally in the mood to watch youtube videos, or i'm looking for something to play while i do my workouts or the dishes, i look through the playlists and only watch what i previously put in them. i don't look at the youtube homepage anymore. if the sink is full of dishes or it's a new and long home workout i'm trying out, i look for something in…