Everybody wants to waste your time

Summary by Krater

A video essay critiquing modern media, streaming series, video games, and social media for artificially stretching runtime and content length to maximize user engagement and ad revenue. The creator concludes that media companies prioritize algorithmic retention over quality, leading to a pervasive degradation of user experiences.

From the video

Answers: Why are modern media, streaming shows, and video games artificially lengthened?

• Media inflation and padded runtimes
• Video game open-world bloat and microtransactions
• Algorithmic optimization on streaming platforms and social media
• The psychology of digital addiction and endless scrolling
• Comparative analysis of documentary and game pacing

What it concludes

• Streaming services and media companies artificially stretch stories and runtimes to maximize engagement and subscription revenue.
• Video games increasingly rely on filler content, repetitive tasks, and aggressive microtransactions rather than concise storytelling.
• Algorithms reward creators and platforms for maximizing watch time over concise, high-quality production.
• The monetization models of modern entertainment incentivize friction and frustration to drive microtransaction purchases.