I watch YouTube at 1.25x speed. What’s your default playback rate?

Life is short, but my attention span is apparently even shorter. Blame social media or the warp-speed rate race we’re all mired in, but I struggle to sit through most YouTube videos at normal speed nowadays. Even when I’m out on a morning walk or run, I usually crank up the speed a little on podcasts.

There is some practical method to my madness. For one, it allows me to cram even more episodes into a shorter period. For YouTube videos, especially when paired with SponsorBlock, I waste little to no time getting through more conversational series, such as financial discussions or lectures. As far as streaming media goes, I often wish Netflix had speed adjustments, since it would make some shows rather hilarious and others much more palatable.

To allay any fears that I absorb information at 2x speed like some sort of field mouse, I tend to bump up the speed of podcasts to around 1.1x and YouTube videos to 1.1x-1.35x, depending on the participants’ speech rate. Some people speak more slowly than others, which requires finer adjustments, but tweaking this allows me to still comprehend what is being said without my mind wandering between drawn-out syllables.

YouTube is seemingly well aware of my habits and those of other potential users in this regard. It’s a core reason why it rolled out its Auto Speed feature, which dynamically quickens podcasts where appropriate. It’s perhaps one of the features that would get me to subscribe to Premium full time and switch to YouTube as my podcast app of choice.

But am I alone in my madness? Do you also watch media at a slightly higher speed than the creator intended? What is your reasoning for doing or not doing it? Let’s discuss in the comments section below.

Here are some more questions:

• What is your preferred default YouTube video playback speed, and does it differ between devices?
• Have you ever adjusted the playback speed on YouTube? If so, why?
• Would you watch Netflix shows at faster playback speeds if available?

👇 And if you have a specific comment related to your poll choice, or want to answer any of the questions posed above, be sure to have your say in the comments below.