TED Talks are an easy guilty pleasure of mine. What isn't there to love about these videos online. They're super interesting, funny and informational. They are entertaining and at the same time educational. Many of the subjects they speak of are relatable and can inspire people across the globe. How can they hinder self-growth? Because in reality these videos won't dive deep enough to give you a full understanding of the subject to apply in real life. This can be said about nearly all informational, sciency, or psychological YouTube videos. Another example of this is the Vsauce channel. Michael Stevens' uploads are highly concentrated with precious information about the world around you but they will never truly affect your career, life, or relationships in a fundamentally deep way. All informational videos on YouTube will only dig into the surface level of your world and leave a huge portion untouched. The platform on YouTube is designed to reward short videos which hit your emotional spot so you can keep going deeper into the rabbit hole of a cesspool. This is why cat videos and people hurting themselves are always going to get more views than the hour long lecture about discipline (which only has 10,000 views).
It's like you're on the Titanic and you see an iceberg. The ship is your well being and the tip of the iceberg are the quick fixes and insights videos will talk about. If you only use the videos to help yourself out you will ultimately crash into the ice berg and drown yourself into a tub of ice cream.
How do you see past the tip of the ice berg. The best way to find insights that will matter to your life is through reading. You see what makes the platform of YouTube different to the book industry is the highest quality of books will be rewarded. Amazon will recommend the highest rated book, your friends and family will recommend you the books which affected them the most, and authors will spend YEARS editing and writing a book to make sure it's perfect and well thought out. The efficiency of self understanding transitioning from watching videos online to reading will go up 500% guaranteed. The subjects you will read will introduce the surface level knowledge in the forward or in spots in the chapters but the next step after that and the next step after that are almost always written in the book.
Although I am not exclaiming to stop watching all TED Talks. They are easily more valuable than most of what's on YouTube. If TED Talks are your source of procrastinating, relaxing, or enjoyment by all means, go ahead. But if you truly want to take the path to success and fulfillment (and to steer the boat), then books are your best friend and ultimate guide.