In recent times, concerns about short-form addiction have been growing. YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok continuously serve up videos that are less than a minute long, capturing people’s eyes and ears through the screens of their smartphones. Many have had the experience of starting to watch YouTube Shorts around 10 PM, only to find the hour hand has moved halfway around the clock before putting down their phones in shock. There are even short-form videos highlighting the dangers of this addiction, so what more needs to be said?
However, completely forbidding short-form content is not the solution either. In a tough daily routine, such minor pleasures should not be dismissed as they provide a break from the monotony. Like everything in life, moderation is key. Let’s explore whether it’s okay to enjoy short-form content, how much is acceptable, and how to do so.
Firstly, is it okay to consume short-form content? In medicine, a crucial criterion for defining a disease is whether it interferes with daily life. The same applies to short-form content. If you can stop watching YouTube Shorts whenever you want, it’s not a problem. If browsing Instagram for about 10 minutes helps you switch gears back to your work, that’s fine too.
However, if you neglect your duties at work because you’re distracted by YouTube Shorts, or if you feel depressed or anxious without watching Instagram Reels, that’s a pathological condition. What’s important is not the short-form content itself, but preventing it from disrupting our lives. Now, let’s introduce three ways to enjoy short-form content without falling into addiction.
First, watch videos that are at least 10 minutes long and contextual. The reason short-form videos trigger dopamine secretion, leading to addiction, is their immediate reward mechanism, similar to gambling. If gamblers had to wait a day to find out the results of a bet, would they still be engaged? Probably not. Immediate rewards are a key mechanism in addiction, and breaking this cycle requires extending the time between behavior and reward, known as “delayed gratification.” We need to fill the time between watching a video and the stimulus it provides with contextual content.
Second, limit the continuous viewing time of videos. Before opening the YouTube app on your smartphone, open the clock app and set a timer for how long you will watch. Whether it’s 30 minutes or an hour, you decide. No one realistically starts watching YouTube thinking, “I’m going to watch for three and a half hours.” Time limits are necessary not just for short-form content but also for longer-form videos like those on Netflix. There’s a reason why “binge-watching” Netflix shows, watching a series from the first to the last episode in one go, is common. If you don’t set a maximum viewing time, watching several long episodes back-to-back can have the same effect as watching many short videos.
Third, avoid short-form content in bed. Better yet, don’t even start watching YouTube or Instagram when you’re about to sleep. Once you start, it’s almost impossible to stop before you’re completely exhausted. Haven’t we all been there? Avoiding short-form content exposure when going to bed is crucial to prevent one of its biggest problems—disturbing our daily life.
In summary, avoiding short-form addiction requires a rational approach and setting limits on exposure and environment, ensuring it doesn’t interfere with daily life.
Our lives are too precious to be spent mindlessly scrolling through short-form content. Perhaps what short-form content truly diminishes is not just its duration, but also the precious time we should be spending with our loved ones.
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