Study shows: Short videos on TikTok and YouTube even increase boredom

A new study has found that there may be a link between boredom and endless scrolling on TikTok and YouTube Shorts.

Many of us confess to fighting off boredom by swiping through some of the more popular apps every night, but it turns out that this could have just the opposite effect.

In a study titled “Fast forward to boredom: How changing behavior in digital media increases boredom,” the Psychology Department at the University of Toronto Scarborough asked over 1,000 participants to consume 10 minutes of short content. They were also asked to watch a single longer video in the same amount of time.

The results suggest that participants felt more engaged and overall satisfied when watching the standalone clip.

“On platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Netflix, people often switch between videos and fast-forward them. We show that people consume media in this way to avoid boredom,” the study authors explained. “However, this switching behavior leads people to feel more bored, less satisfied, less engaged and, in some cases, less meaningful.”

The study revealed the secret of modern digital media consumption, showing that “you may have more fun if you focus entirely on videos rather than just swiping through them.”

In the press release, lead study author Katy Tam advised people to “focus on the content” and “minimize digital switching as much as possible” to make the experience more enjoyable.

“Just like paying for a more immersive experience at the movies, online videos are more fun to immerse yourself in than just swiping through.”

Tam concluded that the boredom caused by switching to digital media may stem from the clips “seeming meaningless because people don't have time to engage with or understand the content” rather than fully engaging with it.

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