Do you also watch reels/shorts more often and do not realize the time you have wasted on them?
Well, apparently it's not only your fault They are made in such a way that an ordinary human mind can't resist watching...
So we will go in-depth with what is the psychology behind reel or short video addiction and why we can't resist it.
Background
Well, it all started in 2020, the darkest year, when the world was brutally hit by an unexpected pandemic.
Though we knew about the technology and apps before but we had a much busier in life earlier.
The entire world got encapsulated within a small phone and even that person or nerd who never used phone had to adapt bcz we had no other option. We couldn't go out and the only means of elapsing time was using phone. Most of the people did that.
The only means of acquiring education was through Tech devices.
We did what was required in the situation but we might not know the consequences.
Impact of Pandemic
The sudden shifting of our daily routine and excess usage of remote devices did created a havoc.
According to statistics, there was rigorous increase in usage of technology.
And people of age group 15-30 years we're highly affected.
How Reels/Shorts are addictive
We all know how famous tiktok became in such a short time. And after the ban of tiktok all were kind of disheartened.
It taught people to spend more and more time on phones even after, the ban people couldn't stop scrolling the social media.
Later, short videos was made available to almost every social media app including YouTube, snapchat, Facebook etc.
The inability to stop scrolling social media led to negative health effects, obsessive behaviour.
Let's understand how a person gets addicted to anything?
According to psychology, Addiction is a complex phenomenon that can develop when a person becomes compulsively dependable on anything despite experiencing negative consequences.
Our body has a hormone dopamine and it plays significant role in addiction.
When an individual engages in activities or consumes substances that are rewarding or pleasurable, such as taking drugs, gambling, or even watching short videos, dopamine is released in the brain's reward pathway. This release of dopamine creates a sense of pleasure and reinforces the behavior, making it more likely for the individual to seek out and repeat the activity.
Now, how is dopamine and social media is related.
The social media are AI driven and it can read and understand a human mind. So, the algorithm is that it shows you the content that you exactly need at that time. They actually keep a take on what you mostly watch and then recommend you videos according to your interests.
The videos captivates your mind and releases dopamine in large quantity and you become addicted to it.
Speaking from personal experience, one day after a study session I randomly opened reels and didn't realised the time and my whole day passed in that.
Because the videos attracted me so much and it felt relatable, I felt as if Instagram understands me more than anyone. Who knew it was a trap by their algorithm (;
So now I avoid even opening that app.
Consequences
An article published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) revealed that teens who use social media more than three hours per day may be at heightened risk for mental health problems.
• Spending excessive amounts of time watching short videos can lead to a significant loss of productivity.
• Can contribute to decreased attention span and difficulty in focusing on tasks that require sustained concentration.
• Engaging in short videos late at night or for extended periods can disrupt sleep patterns.
• It can contribute to negative emotional states.
Conclusion
As much as attracting it may look we should avoid it.Ever heard of " Anything in excess can be harmful or lethal ".
Everything should be maintained and should be for limited time period. Well I'm sure people reading this must be smart enough to know what's best for them so wish you all the luck.
I hope I did justice in explaining the topic.
Until next time
KC (;
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