7 educational YouTube channels to watch instead of being on TikTok, in the newsletter
7 educational YouTube channels to watch instead of being on TikTok, in the Good Tech newsletter on November 4th
In recent years, short-form video content has begun to dominate the internet. TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts have gotten us used to moving from one clip to another in a few seconds, in a stream of information, jokes, memes, recommendations, and things we usually look at as quickly as we discovered them. In tomorrow's edition of the Good Tech newsletter, you will find a list of 7 YouTube channels if you want to replace some of the time spent on TikTok and Instagram.
It is not necessarily something bad that we watch more short videos. Sometimes, a 30-second clip is exactly what you need after a long day. But most of the time, you open your phone for five minutes and wake up half an hour later (at best), having seen dozens of videos from which you retained little.
The problem is not just the time we spend in front of the screen, but also the way we consume information. Short videos constantly expose us to new topics, rapid changes in context, and stimuli competing for our attention. A meta-analysis published in 2025 in the journal Psychological Bulletin, which analyzed 71 studies and data from almost 98,300 participants, identified an association between higher consumption of short videos and weaker cognitive performance, especially concerning attention and the ability to stop an impulsive behavior.
On the other hand, longer content gives us the opportunity to follow an idea to the end, to understand the context, and to make connections between information.
Therefore, in tomorrow's edition of the Good Tech newsletter, you will find a list of seven YouTube channels worth giving a chance if you want to replace some of the time spent on TikTok and Instagram with something more consistent. I have chosen Romanian and foreign creators who cover diverse topics, from philosophy, history, and politics to science, culture, and health.
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