LWL | Striving To Save Adolescent Mental Development
By Iljoong (Andrew) Kim
With the constant development of technology in a fast developing world, companies fight to push out the newest content to the audience as fast as possible. The internet started with simple blogs online to full on long form videos we see on Youtube that rival the likes of movies, and now, in what may seem as a step backwards, the rise of short form content. The platform most notorious for short form content right now is TikTok, formerly known as Musically, that holds the attention of kids and adults alike. TikTok allows creators to upload videos up to 10 minutes in length, but people rarely go over the 3 minute mark, and the majority stick with videos under 1 minute. A unique feature among short form video platforms is that the user doesn’t get to choose what kind of content they consume. An algorithm decides what kind of content the user would enjoy based on their previous pattern of behavior on the app. This allows users to mindlessly scroll down their feed being stimulated by each and every video, and anything that doesn’t intrigue them can simply be skipped within seconds, and subsequently removed from consideration when the algorithm looks for future content to show them. The combination between the mindless scrolling and algorithm presents two problems that are especially damaging to the youth: Addiction leading to the decrease in attention span and narrowmindedness from the algorithmic bias.
According to a study on Springer Link, the nature of short form videos easily gets the user addicted and can have other negative effects on their everyday lives (Wang et al.). To elaborate on the notion of algorithmic bias, it is when an algorithm presents unfair outcomes which is exactly what the short form video platform algorithms are doing as they filter out content the user wouldn’t enjoy (Baha 1). This too limits the scope of the user’s understanding of controversial ideas and important issues around the world (Baha 1). This brings up the question: how does short form contents affect a student's throughout their adolescent life? While short-form content may enhance learning through concise information delivery, its addictive nature pumps dopamine without restraint into the student's brain, compelling them to prioritize short-term pleasure over sustained efforts to achieve happiness. This makes its detrimental effects, significantly shortening their attention span and in-depth understanding of complex subjects, outweigh its benefits.
It is no secret that short form video platforms are much more addicting than long form platforms based on simply the fact that they are shorter. According to a study on Research Gate, short form videos are addicting as their short duration encourages repeated use (Tian et al.). The study continues to explain that short form videos are sent out through fragmentation, where the user is able to gain the knowledge or stimulus they want much faster than any long form video could achieve. The ability to navigate what the user wants as fast as possible makes short form videos much better in stimulating the pleasure center of the brain intensely over a much shorter amount of time (Tian et al.). This combined with the constant cycle of new content as a user scrolls makes it so they are stimulated over and over again, keeping them engaged. Furthermore, given the nature of these platforms wanting to keep users on as long as possible, this type of addiction is exactly what these companies intended, making it hard for people to expect the companies to fix the addiction problem themselves (Tian et al.). On platforms such as YouTube, long form videos can reach lengths of up to 1 hour which doesn’t warrant an addiction based on the constant pump of dopamine, but given that short form videos rarely cross the 1 minute mark, 1 hour of scrolling exposes the user to over 60 videos, where the study concludes anything over 1 hour of use is a sign of addiction on short form videos (Tian et al.). The study showed that the most extreme examples of short form video addiction was consuming this content for times stretching 4 to even 9 hours (Tian et al.). This type of addiction barely leaves any time for students to focus on their academic life, and sometimes even limits their ability and time to socialize with others which is the first negative impact it can have in school life.
Addictions to short form videos can directly impact student life, but it can also create long term damages such as the shortening one’s attention span. According to an article from IT World Canada, a leading source since 1984 for information among IT professionals in Canada, the constant release of dopamine that results from these short and stimulating content forms makes it so that the brain starts craving more and more dopamine constantly (IT World Canada Staff). This can create a shorter attention span, as students are put off by lectures during class or even just longer form videos as they don't get the dopamine hit they would from short form videos as frequently as the short form content they are accustomed to would (IT World Canada Staff). This effect is especially damaging to students as the prefrontal cortex that deals with attention and impulse control doesn’t fully develop until they are 25 years old (IT World Canada Staff). As short form videos put students off longer classes, videos, and even conversations, they don’t get to practice continued attention as they should for ideal development, making them vulnerable to lack of attention and impulse control throughout their lives (IT World Canada Staff). The issue has been lightly addressed by TikTok, where they put a screen time tracker suggesting getting off the app after some time, but students can easily get around these features to continue enjoying their content (IT World Canada Staff).
Moreover, another detrimental effect that short form videos present is that based on its tailor fitted algorithm for the user, it presents a severe case of algorithmic bias. Algorithmic bias is defined as an error or as the name implies a bias towards something within an algorithm (Singh 110). This perfectly describes the algorithm of a short form video platform as they are purposely only presenting videos that the user wants, being able to change the algorithm for the user quickly (Singh 111) . Algorithmic bias can be problematic as it exists on all social media platforms, and a multitude of factors can affect the algorithm's biases (Baha 3). The developers of said algorithm could intentionally or unintentionally inflict their biases onto the algorithm, but on platforms like TikTok, the user gets to change their algorithm based on their own biases (Baha 3). Without the luxury of being able to choose what kind of content you would like to consume, the algorithm picks out exactly what they want to show you based on your previous preferences (Baha 3). Since they rarely introduce new media that you haven’t already indicated that you enjoy, they often show very similar ideas or concepts with little variance. Even if these algorithms don’t completely present content based on a user's past preferences, they often recommend what other users enjoyed so that the most popular content gets even more exposure (Yang 26). So even if individually there could be something new presented in rare circumstances, the algorithm doesn’t help in exposure for content that hasn’t already been approved by others pushing the ideas of only the popular videos forward (Yang 26).
What is also alarming and indicative that the algorithm works in a way that presents content that adheres to a users preferences is that in the same study, the videos recommended by TikTok were divided into two groups: good and bad recommendations (Yang 28). As time progressed, the number of good recommendations compared to bad ones increased constantly as more and more data was gathered about that specific user’s preferences on the platform (Yang 28). This shows that over time, the TikTok algorithm presents both content that is enjoyable and in line with what that specific user thinks and likes (Yang 28). Therefore, the algorithm can affect people of all ages as more active use warrants a more accurate reflection of what a user enjoys.
Giving the user only what they like can limit other perspectives that may narrow their views which is unhealthy for everyone, especially adolescents. Since adolescents don’t develop their prefrontal cortex fully until the age of 25, it is optimal to deal with many perspectives to give them a chance to develop views on nuanced ideas, but the algorithmic bias of TikTok can greatly limit an important skill in the human brain.
Still, it wouldn’t be correct to view short form videos as purely negative to students. It does exist because it is beneficial to our world and students in some kind of way after all. The concerns around addiction are for the extreme which seems to be quite high of a population, and the algorithm targeted at them directly is seen as a poison that continues to encourage this addiction. However, a study suggests that the negative impacts of short form videos can be dependent on the user (Wu et al.). The study found that adults used the platform for educational purposes more often than adolescents did (Wu et al.). Adolescents used the platform mainly for entertainment, and didn’t engage with the platform with comments as much as adults did (Wu et al.). Strictly using the platform for entertainment with no engagement like the majority of adolescents was found to bring the aforementioned negative effects, but thinking and collaborating through the comment section was a way in which some positive effects were found on the platform as well for adults (Wu et al.). Furthermore, short form video platforms such as TikTok being social media platforms at their core can be used for collaborative learning (Zhang 543). These platforms have very diverse sets of tools for communication like the comment section and private messaging as well as being able to speak on others videos through stitches which all contribute to the collaboration aspect of the platform (Zhang 543).
The influence of social media can also move beyond oneself, and affect a large portion of the population (Zhang 544). The algorithm that can be so detrimental to the consumer can actually be a game changer for a company looking to advertise their business. Several businesses use TikTok and other short form video apps to promote their brand using this algorithm. We are seeing a rise in businesses trying to use the algorithm that favors popular content, and synthesizing their advertisements into popular trends to appeal to the general public, which can work as free advertisement without any cost for a potentially struggling small business (Zhang 544). Finally, short form videos were originally designed to be entertaining, and making it strictly corporate would tank the popularity of these platforms as businesses benefit off the trends set by these entertaining videos. One thing short form videos do better than long form videos is that they are short. They are able to entertain someone when they are on a short break or if they don’t wish to commit a lot of time to the media (Liu et al.). In a world of fast moving work with little time to spare, these short form videos are the solution to consumers that need a break or some kind of short bite sized entertainment for them to continue on with their work (Liu et al.). Videos like these have even been found to boost productivity while long form videos or documentaries do not help at all (Liu et al.).
Now, short form videos can be a very useful resource for both consumers and businesses, but there needs to be some sort of limit or choice on what kind of content and how long someone should consume that content. If not controlled, the consequences for adolescents can affect them throughout their lives. If this is the information that has been presented already, how can our society actually make sure that people can use short form video platforms appropriately? A possible solution in solving this problem is for the government to create PSAs. A PSA stands for Public Service Announcement in which the public is informed of potential harms of things such as drunk driving, Covid-19, and drugs. Data from a study on the effectiveness of PSA’s suggests that fear, emotional, and informational videos helped curve the use or habit of whatever the PSA was telling the public (Hassan et al.). Given that short form videos aren’t necessarily deadly or dangerous, an informational approach on how they can affect an adolescents development in attention span and the prefrontal cortex can motivate both them and their parents to limit their time on these apps. Also, the most effective PSA’s have interesting scripts that engage the audience to listen closely to the content therefore a premise around popular apps such as TikTok can be widely accepted by the public (Hassan et al.). One concern about PSA’s is that they cost money to advertise to the public on TV and online, but this cost can be covered as the government spends hundreds of millions of dollars on other PSA’s, and allocating some to this important message can be helpful to everyone (Hassan et al.).
Works Cited
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Hassan, Nor Afiqah Izzati, et al. “The Effectiveness of Public Service Announcements.” E-Joms, myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ejoms/article/view/17376. Accessed 29 Jan. 2024.
IT World Canada Staff. “TikTok Short-Form Videos Changing Attention Spans - It World Canada.” IT World Canada - Information Technology News on Products, Services and Issues for CIOs, IT Managers and Network Admins, 21 Aug. 2023, www.itworldcanada.com/post/tiktok-short-form-videos-changing-attention-spans.
Liu, Yang, et al. “Taking Micro-Breaks at Work: Effects of Watching Funny Short-Form Videos on Subjective Experience, Physiological Stress, and Task Performance.” SpringerLink, Springer International Publishing, 1 Jan. 1970, link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-77077-8_15.
Singh, Daman Preet. “The Algorithmic Bias of Social Media.” The Motley Undergraduate Journal, 13 Oct. 2023, cjc-rcc.ucalgary.ca/index.php/muj/article/view/77457.
Tian, Xiaoxu, et al. “How Short-Form Video Features Influence Addiction Behavior?” Research Gate, Feb. 2022, www.researchgate.net/publication/358832086_How_short-form_video_features_influence_addiction_behavior_Empirical_research_from_the_opponent_process_theory_perspective.
Wang, Xinrui, et al. “Life History Strategies and Problematic Use of Short-Form Video Applications - Evolutionary Psychological Science.” SpringerLink, Springer International Publishing, 8 Aug. 2020, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-020-00255-9.
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Yang, Chenchen. "BIAS IN SHORT-VIDEO RECOMMENDER SYSTEMS: USER-CENTRIC EVALUATION ON TIKTOK." (2022).
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