Have you noticed lately that your attention span seems to be getting shorter? Do you feel stressed when you’re trying to use YouTube to learn how to do something quickly but all the videos you can see are longer than five minutes? What about when you find a blog post that looks like it will take a while to read?
You’re not alone. In fact, in the internet age, most of our attention spans are growing shorter and shorter, and content creators, social media platforms, and marketing firms are taking note. Short-form content is becoming more and more pervasive across all media, and especially online.
This kind of short, quick-moving content is effortless to consume, but its effects might not be worth the convenience or entertainment, especially when it comes to our kids. Keep reading to learn more about what short-form content is, why it’s so popular, and the negative effects it can have on our brains and our kids’ brains.
What Is Short-Form Content?
If you’re older than about 25, you probably remember when it seemed like every article on the internet was a listicle (an article that was formatted as a list for easy skimming and consumption). You’ll probably also remember the popularity of infographics (graphics that present information in a visual—and also easily skimmable—way). One day we were all reading long, in-depth articles, and the next it felt like all there was to find was “Seven Ways Your Clothes Might Be Aging You.” (I made that title up, but you get the point.)
As our lives have moved more and more online, content has evolved too. We’ve all witnessed the rise of short-form content, which, like those listicles and infographic, is any type of content that is quick to consume. And as written content has become shorter and video has become more popular, video content has gotten shorter too.
Short-form video content can be any kind of video that is a few minutes long, although many of the most popular short-form videos are even shorter than one minute. This kind of content generally jumps right in without much introduction to hook its audience right away, and it moves quickly to prevent viewers from getting bored and swiping past. One thing about short-from content, is that if you don’t quickly feel interested, there is usually plenty more where that came from that you might like better.
Tik Tok is the current most popular social media platform for short-form video content, and the average length of a Tik Tok video is a mere 35 seconds. This kind of short video content is wildly popular among social media users, and other social platforms are following in Tik Tok’s footsteps by introducing short video capability into their existing content offerings. YouTube now has “shorts,” Instagram has “reels,” and even Facebook has begun to push shorter visual content with “stories.”
So if you love to scroll through Tik Tok videos or Instagram reels when you need a brain break at work or have a few minutes waiting to pick your kids up from school, you aren’t the only one. This kind of content has quickly risen to be the most consumed on social media, and it doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon.
The Risks of Short-Form Video Content
There are specific and even psychological reasons we tend to gravitate toward this kind of short-form video content. Besides being convenient, this short content can actually be addictive. Social media content releases dopamine, sometimes called a “feel-good hormone,” into the brain, causing users to receive a quick hit of happiness. It’s the same thing that happens in the brain of people taking drugs or drinking alcohol.
The Risk of Addiction
Of course, it’s easy to want more of this feel-good sensation that comes with a hit of dopamine, which makes us crave more. So we keep scrolling, sometimes infinitely, as social media never seems to run out of content. A 2023 study of undergraduate college students found that, in addition to the positive feelings that come with scrolling through social media, these short videos can seem like a “small pleasure,” and we may let them take up more time than we should.
We see it as a short break, but the addictive nature keeps us scrolling indefinitely, causing us to spend time on social media that should be spent on other things. As adults, it can be tough to prioritize and set limits—imagine how difficult it can be for our kids. There are so many great things they might miss in life because they are sucked into the social media scroll.
But because this short content is effective at keeping people on these social platforms, the platforms continue to enable, encourage, and even push this kind of content.
The Risk of Distraction
The principle finding of the 2023 study mentioned above was that undergraduates who experienced short-form video addiction procrastinated their work more than those who weren’t addicted. Each of us can probably think of a moment when we watched too many Tik Tok videos and let ourselves push off working, folding laundry, or even going to sleep at a decent hour.
The risk of this short-form video content for our kids is that watching these videos can be a distraction from so many more important things, like schoolwork, in-person relationships, or just being present and experiencing the world around them.
Content is getting shorter across all media, and, as discussed above, attention spans are getting shorter because of it. This is true for all of us, but especially true for kids, whose prefrontal cortexes are still developing. It can be even more difficult for them to focus for longer periods of time, and short-form video content calling to them doesn’t help.
Think of how many good things in life require deep or sustained focus: listening to a friend going through a hard time, learning a difficult concept, even just reading a great book. What’s sometimes called “Tik Tok brain” can cause our children to be incapable of investing time and attention to think deeply.
In this critical time of development, our kids’ brains are also particularly susceptible to mental and emotional health problems caused by dopamine social media addiction.
How to Keep Kids Safe When It Comes to Tik Tok
So what is a concerned parent to do? Especially when your child is begging you to have their own Tik Tok account, or if you love watching Instagram reels together to have a good laugh? Thankfully, there is lots that we can do to keep our kids safe from “Tik Tok brain” and short-form content addiction.
Just Avoid It
The simplest way to safeguard against the effects of social media is to simply not allow our kids to use it. At Troomi, we believe that social media is unhealthy and unsafe for kids and teens, and it’s really not something they need. That’s why our phones don’t include access to any social media apps. If our kids aren’t exposed to addictive and potentially harmful content, that removes the risk altogether.
Be Informed Ourselves
However, there’s plenty more that parents can do, especially if you do decide that your kids will have access to social media. A foundational step is to educate ourselves on the latest news about social media platforms. Keep an eye on the science of how short-form video content and social media in general affect our brains, our emotions, and our children. Be aware of public policy issues that are related to these social platforms. For example, did you know that a law was passed in the United States to ban the app earlier this year? Become familiar with information sources you know you can trust. There are plenty of resources online to help you stay up to date on what Tik Tok is and what risks are associated with it.
Learn about Parental Controls and Privacy Concerns
Many platforms have special protections in place for younger kids and even teens. If your child is going to have a social media account, learn about privacy concerns, and help make sure that their account is safeguarded. Check frequently to make sure that privacy settings and filters are still in place. Sign up for the account together, and use it together often so you’re familiar with what they’re seeing. In a nutshell, stay involved so that your child can stay safe and you’ll be aware of any potential issues.
Empower Your Kids by Staying Involved
While it’s true that Tik Tok and many other platforms have settings that can help filter the content a child sees, it’s also true that many of these settings are not that difficult to get around if you’re a smart kid. So while it’s important to set up as many safeguards as possible, the Troomi approach is always to learn together with your child so that they can build a foundation of healthy technology habits that will empower them throughout their life.
If you do choose to allow your child to use Tik Tok, make it a partnership. Talk about risks, establish boundaries, and help your child play an active part in avoiding addiction and “Tik Tok brain.”
Discuss together how they can incorporate long periods of focus time without the distraction of the infinite short-form content hole. And, perhaps most importantly, teach your child by example what deep focus and investing in in-person relationships looks like. Help each other stay present and keep those attention spans in tip top shape!
The Good News about Short-Form Video Content
The good news is that it’s not all bad news. There are a few nice things about these entertaining little clips. For example, they can allow you to
- Learn something quickly. Need to figure out how to change the batteries in your smoke detector? YouTube can probably help with a quick one-minute short when you don’t have time for an in-depth 15-minute video.
- Be exposed to new ideas or interests. A quick little thought from someone can open your mind to new ways of thinking. And you may never know how interesting bee-keeping is if you never see a 45-second clip of a beekeeper putting on her gear to go to the hive.
- Remember ideas or concepts. It’s easier to remember the gist of a 30-second video than it is to remember several points from a long documentary. Learning things in short, bite-sized segments can be effective for remembering things longer.
- Find accessible content. Short content is often easier to translate or just to consume, no matter your abilities or ways of thinking. And, of course, you always have time for a video that’s not even a minute long, right?
Like with everything, balance is key. No, we don’t want our kids—or ourselves—to become addicted to watching Tik Tok videos, Instagram reels, or YouTube shorts all day or all night. However, that doesn’t have to mean that we can never indulge in a few fun or educational videos as a brain break. We just need to find a good middle ground.
Conclusion
In summary, there are more than a few things to worry about when it comes to Tik Tok and other short-form video content. These videos, usually only a couple minutes long and often even shorter, are becoming more and more popular on the internet and across social media platforms in general. This video content, while almost always entertaining and often useful, gives our brains hits of dopamine that can lead to addiction in both kids and adults.
But there is plenty we can do to keep our kids safe and protect time for them to focus deeply and live in the real world. We can establish a policy of staying off social media altogether, be informed, set up guardrails, and—most importantly—be an involved parent and set a positive example. Have open conversations about limits and risks, and be a safe space for kids to come to with concerns. Technology is here to stay, but it doesn’t have to rule our lives.
Learn more about Troomi and how it can empower your kids and help keep them safe.
