Bombshell study reveals the true effects watching short-form content has on your brain
Topics: TikTok, Mental Health, Social Media, Instagram, YouTube, Technology, Health
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/AJ_Watt
Topics: TikTok, Mental Health, Social Media, Instagram, YouTube, Technology, Health
A shocking new study has revealed the real impact doom scrolling short-form content has on your brain.
We're all guilty of endlessly scrolling through videos on platforms like Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. While it might seem harmless to watch multiple videos of people falling over or cats doing stupid things, people who consume content this way might find that it impacts their brains.
A lot of previous research has centered on TikTok, but short-form videos (SFVs) are now pretty much everywhere.
With this mind, researchers behind a new study reviewed data from 98,299 participants across 71 studies and different social media platforms.
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They penned in the paper: "The resurgence of short-form videos (SFVs), popularized by TikTok and Douyin, has transformed social media platforms, with features like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts fostering their widespread adoption."
"Although initially geared toward entertainment, SFVs are increasingly used in education, political campaigns, advertising, and consumerism, yet their design, characterized by endless scrolling interfaces, has raised concerns about addiction and negative health implications," they went on.
Of the nearly 100,000 participants, the team behind the bombshell study analyzed their engagement patterns and various cognitive and mental health indicators on both youths and adults — and it's safe to say that the results were concerning.
In terms of cognition it was concluded that 'higher SFV consumption is linked to poorer attention across both young and older populations'.
SPV use has also been linked with poor mental health, depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness in particular."The continuous cycle of swiping and receiving new, emotionally stimulating content has been proposed to trigger dopamine release, creating a reinforcement loop that contributes to patterns of habitual use and greater emotional reliance on digital interactions," the study explains.
"This habitual engagement may be associated with heightened stress and anxiety, as some users report difficulties disengaging and regulating their emotions in offline settings."
When it came to other health domains like body image, it was noted that more research is needed.
Sleep quality can also be affected by SFV scrolling, particularly if you're prone to going on the likes of TikTok or Instagram in bed.
It states: "In particular, the consumption of SFVs in the hours before bedtime has been linked to disrupted sleep quality due to the blue light emitting from electronic devices, which may inhibit the production of melatonin and serotonin—key hormones involved in regulating circadian rhythms."
The general conclusion: the heavier your SFV consumption is, the worse both your cognition and mental health will be.