Instagram reels is shortening this generations' attention span

Question

This claim is true through observation and study, as well as my own personal experience. The way this form of media has been designed easily engages the viewer or audience through quick hits of dopamine to the brain through exciting, short content. For example, a review found that the distraction level is increased as soon as an app such as this is opened. One quick video can easily turn into 5, which can then turn into 10s of hundreds of quick videos. Viewers are always looking for that next "hit" which can be described as a short burst of entertainment, rather than staying focused on one specific task. A study proved this and noted that “individuals would prioritise short-term cravings (watching short-form videos) compared to long-term success (academic achievement)… resulting in attention control being impaired.” In summary, the social feed is optimized towards high engagement snippets, and when hundreds of these snippets are consumed by the user, longer tasks such as reading a book or staying in a college lecture can be difficult for the brain to endure, as it feels less interesting for the person.

Answer 1

After doing some research of my own I found a similar article on Instagram Reels and its affects on academic performance for undergrad students. This was an academic research paper titled "Impact of Short Reels on Attention Span and Academic Performance of Undergraduate Students",done by the EJAL, or the Eurasian Journalism of Applied Linguistics. In this they tested and conducted a scientific hypothesis on whether short bursts videos like Instagram Reels, Tiktok, or Youtube Shorts, affects academic performance and attention span. They first looked at correlation between time spent on reels/% watching daily and GPA. They found a strong negative correlation between time spent on reels and attention span. Meaning the more time spent on reels, the smaller their attention span was. For GPA the results were similar, but it was a moderate negative correlation. Once again meaning the more time spent on reels means the lower the avg. GPA. They also looked at mini variables like reaction time, which was shown to be worse, as well as cognitive errors. Their conclusion was that there was a strong correlation between the two. Now correlation doesn't automatically mean causation but it is mostly safe to assume so. 

Comments

I really appreciate and like how long your response is to this claim. You provided tons of information, which helped support your claim positively. I like how you also touched on different topics within the concept you are responding to/talking about. In the future, I would definitely recommend adding more statistics to your response to help strengthen your argument and overall credibility.

Answer 2

During my research, I was almost not surprised, but this topic dives deeper into how the brain actually works, and apps like TikTok and Instagram decided to capitalize on it. According to Morgan Virtual Psychiatry, "Switching from one short video to the next reduces our brain’s tolerance for sustained attention. This can make it harder to stay focused on a long conversation, work task, or school assignment.". This can be concerning and can be tested within yourself. Keeping you engaged is also how this is taking effect. Another article I chose to dive into was from The Lowell, which claimed "These media platforms, such as Instagram Reels, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts, feed users content based on an analysis of their preferences, continuously providing them with personalized videos.". Overall, I believe this claim is correct and we need to find ways to reverse this

https://thelowell.org/14372/features/short-videos-shorter-attention/#:~:text=Producers%20of%20social%20media%20apps,she%20wants%20to%20fill%20time.

https://www.morganvirtualpsychiatry.com/are-short-reels-making-our-attention-spans-shorter/#:~:text=Switching%20from%20one%20short%20video,Take%20Screen%20Breaks

Answer 3

This claim is true through the facts of knowledgeable psychiatrists. It was said in their explanation that instagram reels in fact shorten our attention span due to "doom-scrolling". From watching one short video to the next, it reduces our brain's tolerance to stay focused. As well as I have found a study conducted by two researchers from the International Journal of Indian Psychology, that prove that in young adolescents, instagram reels and short videos on social media cause cognitive overload and ruins long-term attention span. 

https://www.morganvirtualpsychiatry.com/are-short-reels-making-our-attention-spans-shorter/

https://ijip.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/18.01.031.20241203.pdf

Answer 4

The claim "Instagram reels is shortening this generations attention span" is true, today's generation have been hooked onto many social media platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, instagram, and snapchat. All these platforms have some form of reel that is designed to be short and swift to pull the reader into the entertainment. As I read an article that I found written by The International Journal of Indian Psychology, there was a study that had occurred to see how peoples attention span had been affected. the results were shown that the group were more prone to "Attention fragmentation and has trouble maintaining concentration after watching the reels since they are more used to consuming material digitally," . I also backed up this information with a different article written by EJAL where they are saying the same thing that reels affect societies attention span.

sources:

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1454296.pdf

https://ijip.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/18.01.031.20241203.pdf

Answer 5

Research shows that because Reels are so short, there is all the scrolling, and constantly changing, it might have an effect on viewer's brains to expect quick hits of media rather than long and focused. In “The Effect of Reels on Attention among Young and Middle-Aged Adults”, International Journal of Indian Psychology. it says that it "is harder for many users—especially younger ones—to maintain attention on longer tasks." While it doesn’t prove Reels cause shorter attention spans for everyone, there’s enough evidence to say it. The same effect has also been proved through studies of Tik Tok.

Answer 6

Many studies have shown that the short-form video platform like Instagram Reels does shorten attention spans especially among younger audiences like teenagers. The Frontiers in Psychology found that people that use Instagram Reelsshow weaker neural indicators. Suggesting that constant exposure to this kind of short-form content can be oversimulating and impair the brains ability to focus and manage attention. Since younger audiences tend to spend more time on social media they exhibit higher levels of inattentive behavior. This causes dependency on the instant gratification and may contribute to the growing amount of teenagers struggling with attention issues.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1454296.pdf

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11236742/