Written by Bedirhan Atabay
Especially in recent years, the skyrocketing popularity of social media networks has been seen. The biggest trend of this skyrocketing is obviously the new hype of creating short videos and earning money this way. There are many platforms to access such content, with the most major ones being Instagram Reels, Youtube Shorts, and absolutely the most popular yet also reasonably the most criticized one, Tiktok. Millions of people are using those platforms these days, an example of this can be the outstanding numbers of usage for those platforms. Youtube Shorts is a great example of this, as over 1.5 billion people are watching short videos on that platform every month (3). People no longer tend to prefer longer videos to shorter ones due to their addiction to short, low-quality, and fast-coming content. Obviously, there has to be a neuroscientific reason behind this mass and rapid addictivity, and consequences for it.
To talk about the reason behind mass addiction, we first need to explain the algorithm of those platforms. As seen in many sources, the thing that attracts us to the content is the algorithm, and the fast-paced nature of the system (1). As the contents are getting faster and faster, we are visually getting attracted to them more and more. This is the reason behind the scary popularity of those platforms, and the existence of a large number of communities in them (1).
Image Credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-hand-holding-a-black-smartphone-2818118/.
However, as the reasons push the average person further and further into watching fast-paced content, several consequences get more and more influential on the person’s mentality. One of the consequences of watching this type of content is the shorter attention span you will have due to it (1). You see, as you are being exposed to a mass amount of content in such a short time, the more you are addicted to it. However, this also drifts your focus away, resulting in a struggle that you are most probably going to have when working on a project or participating in an event. Basically, everything that is not fast-paced and goes on naturally will start to give you a feeling of pressure, ultimately damaging your attention to them. Soon, this will be damaging your mental status and will limit your potential to become successful in daily life. Therefore, it is best to remain focused and reduce the amount of short content you tend to watch each day.
Obviously, this is not the first consequence of watching a high amount of shorts content. A second consequence of watching an extensive amount of short content is its toxic addictivity. Those videos are not just reducing your attention span, they are also triggering high dopamine production (1). With a high amount of dopamine production, it soon becomes clear to the mind that the person should keep watching shorts. This is why shorts are so devastating for the mentality, you are being exposed to things that are damaging your social abilities and you cannot stop because of the extensive dopamine production.
Image Credit: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-smartphone-4549416/.
Finally, you can actually be misinformed while watching this type of content. As you are being exposed to a lot of content in such a short time, it is greatly possible for you to see the wrong information (1). Especially since the bulk of the content tends to not be educational for many people, the amount of helpful content and information that you are to see is reduced too (1). It can be said that a good amount of the wrong information and bad habits in your mind are spread to large communities with the usage of such platforms (1).
All of those reasons and consequences ultimately can be explained in a simple sentence: Being exposed to shorts content can damage your mind and social status severely; thereby, it is best to limit or quit watching them to minimize the further damage they can create on your mentality.
References:
Ibrahim, H. (2023, May 3). 6 reasons you shouldn’t watch short-form videos. MUO. https://www.makeuseof.com/reasons-you-shouldnt-watch-short-form-videos/.
Here is why you get addicted to Shorts and reels. Pepul Blog - Inside Stories of Pepul. (2023, July 13). https://pepul.com/blog/here-is-why-you-get-addicted-to-shorts-and-reels/#:~:text=Shorts%20and%20reels%20are%20designed,is%20why%20it’s%20so%20addictive.
Alana Bonilla on 06/23/2022 in D.I.Y. | Permalink | Comments (0). (2022, June 23). 75% of YouTube users are watching shorts. Hypebot. https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2022/06/75-of-youtube-users-are-watching-shorts.html.
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