Today, most social media platforms have endless scrolling features that allow users to watch videos and swipe up when they’re ready for the next video. Typically, users only watch a small portion of most videos because the impulse to swipe up to get to the next video in the queue prevails.
But a new, comprehensive study from the American Psychological Association (APA) shows that flipping through multiple online videos is less rewarding than sticking with a single video. In fact, flipping through or fast-forwarding online videos actually leads to more boredom, according to the study.
The study included seven experiments with more than 1,200 participants from American universities and the University of Toronto.
In one of the experiments, participants first watched a 10-minute YouTube video without interruption. Then, in another section, they watched seven 5-minute videos within 10 minutes. Participants reported feeling less bored when they watched a single 10-minute video in one go.
Participants reported the same results in other experiments. For example, in one experiment, they were first required to watch a 10-minute video in one go and then watch and fast-forward a 50-minute video within 10 minutes.
“Just like paying for a more immersive experience at the movies, online videos are more fun to immerse yourself in than just swiping through,” says Katy Tam, lead study author and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto.
“With the digital shift, online video content can seem meaningless because people don’t have time to engage with or understand the content,” Tam added.
Previous studies have shown that using a smartphone causes boredom in users. This study now suggests that switching between digital videos could be a related cause of the boredom that accompanies smartphone use, the study says.
Switching between digital videos can have negative mental health effects. As Tam noted, chronic boredom is associated with depressive symptoms, anxiety, sadistic aggression and risk-taking behavior.
On the other hand, the study did not examine the role of a short attention span in relation to boredom and video switching.
