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/

Answer 7

Claim: Instagram reels is shortening this generation’s attention span

The claim is true that the social media platforms with scrolling short videos, like Instagram ‘reels,’ YouTube ‘shorts,’ and TikTok videos, are shortening the attention span of youth. The claim is slightly misleading because it states “this generation” instead of specifying which generation. For context purposes, my research was done on Generation Z, who grew up most exposed to social media and who are now 13-28 years old. There may be other research studies on Generation Alpha, currently aged under 13 years old, but I did not include those in my research.

The primary source I found was a study published by Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics titled, “Impact of Short Reels on Attention Span and Academic Performance of Undergraduate Students.” This was published in summer of 2024 meaning it is historically relevant. The EJAL article is credible because it is internationally peer-reviewed, and accessible for free to the public. This research focused on the relationship between the consumption of social media short-form videos and student’s attention span, along with how it affected their academic performance. The article stated, “students who spent more time watching reels were more prone to attentional lapses and performed worse in their academic endeavors.”

My first secondary source was an article, “TikTok Brain: Can We Save Children’s Attention Spans?” by Nathan Crispo from the Richmond Journal of Law and Technology. This article explains the addictive side of social media, especially scrolling through short-form entertaining videos. Crispo introduced the gambling slot theory and how when youth find a video they liked, dopamine is released in their brain and become addicted to scrolling through more videos. This leads to children and teenagers struggling to focus without the instant gratification, like in school or on long-term goals. The rest of the article explains there likely isn’t any possibility to create future legislation which would protect kids from social media addiction. Probably isn’t biased because they are from a university law group trying to share the most trustworthy information.

 My other secondary source was, “The first 8 seconds – capturing the attention of Gen Z students” by Thais Roberto from the Keystone Education Group. This article discussed ways universities can market their digital content towards Gen Z. For context, Roberto referenced a Microsoft study from 2015 that “the average attention span of Gen Z individuals was only about eight seconds, four seconds less than that of millennials.” I was not able to find this particular Microsoft study. Probably isn’t biased because they’re trying to help universities improve their advertising.

EJAL article

Richmond Journal article

Keystone article

Answer 8

This claim seems to be true, From the Department of Education they released an article that talks about impact of social media platforms decreasing the attention span of users. They mainly talk about how student's decreased attention span has affected their academic performance and a negative way. Also form the(NIH) they state during their research they found that short video consumptions(e.g reels, TikToks) have shown to negatively impact a users attention span and behavioral processes. Overall I would say that this claim is correct and that there should definitely be more research about this topic.

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

Answer 9

After doing some research on the topic, I’ve found that the claim that Instagram Reels are shortening this generations' attention span is true. 

I found a study on undergraduate students who watch short form content like Instagram Reels that was published in Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics in 2024. The study found that 75% of students who participated in the study consumed short form reel content with an average of 3.5 hours per day. The mean GPA of the study was 2.8, with a range of 1.5 to 4.0.

The study found that reels and attention spans had a significant negative correlation, manifesting in students with slower reaction times and higher error rates than students who did not consume the same amount of shortform content.

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

In addition, I found a paper that analyzed 30 studies published between 2014 to 2024. There wasn’t as much statistical analysis as the first study, however the findings do agree with the Eurasian Journal study, showing that people in a wide age range who consume shortform ‘reel’ content have shorter fixation lengths, lower working memory, and a strong negative correlation between reel consumption and GPA.

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

Both the study and paper show significant evidence of short form ‘reel’ content affecting the attention spans of undergraduates and a larger age range, which lend cadence to the claim that “Instagram Reels are shortening this generations' attention span” being true. 

Answer 10

From a closer look at the article’s bibliography and a combination of personal experience and past lengthy class discussions with my Gen Z peers, the claim that short form content that dominates platforms like Instagram and TikTok can shorten user’s attentions spans overtime is true. A similar peer-reviewed article “Impact of Social Media Usage on Attention Spans” (separate, not in IJIP’s bibliography) provides more empirical evidence demonstrating that rapid, fragmented digital content overloads cognitive processing systems, specifically impairing working memory and cognitive control (760–762). This is consistent with the IJIP article’s claims that young users are developing shorter attention spans due to constant exposure to short-form content designed to deliver quick bursts of stimulation. 

 

Also, the uploaded article references over 10 peer-reviewed studies, which show that frequent engagement with short video platforms leads to decreased focus, cognitive fatigue, and reduced capacity for long-term concentration. All of these findings mirror the conclusions presented in the IJIP study. Finally, the mixed-method approaches that combine surveys and other cognitive assessments further strengthens the reliability and validity of the IJIP article’s claim.