You do that with your phone? You’re only hurting yourself

The latest research published by the American Psychological Association. Watching more short videos, for example on platforms such as YouTube or TikTok, is considered by some to be a cure for boredom, may actually make us even more bored and less satisfied. However, it is about a very specific way of viewing these materials.

Just boredom?

As reported by Science Daily, the study involved seven experiments involving a total of more than 1,200 participants from the United States or University of Toronto students. In two basic experiments, participants switched from one online video to another when they were bored, and they predicted that they would feel less bored by switching videos rather than watching them in their entirety. However, the experiment showed that doing so actually made people more bored.

As the study’s lead author, Dr. Katy Tam, points out, to change this and make your movie watching experience more enjoyable, it is better to focus on the content while limiting the amount of “scrolling”. This is demonstrated, among other things, by one of the experiments conducted, in which participants first watched a 10-minute YouTube video without the option of fast forwarding, and then were allowed to freely switch between seven five-minute videos within 10 minutes. It turned out that in the first case, according to the respondents, the viewing experience was more satisfying and engaging.

Although the research is not fully representative because it concerns only the Canadian student community, it may point in the right direction. Passive browsing of social media, including constant browsing of short videos posted on these platforms, just for the sake of browsing does not bring us the expected pleasure. In the past, people would grab the TV remote control out of boredom and flip through channels only to find that, as usual, there was nothing interesting. Times are changing, but the problems are still the same. Only the means change.