The way I used to waste time watching actual full shows vs. now just doomscrolling 15-second clips of the same content

I can't even finish a 45 minute episode anymore without checking my phone like 3 times. But I will sit here for 2 hours straight watching some guy narrate a video game lore summary in 90 second chunks. It started around 2020 I think, right when lockdown hit and everyone's attention span just evaporated. Has anyone else noticed you get way less satisfaction from the short stuff but it's 10x more addictive?

3 comments

3 Comments

wade_kelly777d ago

Started a 45 minute documentary the other day and somehow ended up watching 47 clips of a guy yelling about sandwiches in between checking the time like it was a prison sentence. The short stuff hits different because it's designed to hook you every few seconds, but it feels like eating candy for dinner. My brain's basically a goldfish that got addicted to sugar at this point.

the_viola7d ago

Oh man, 'eating candy for dinner'... that's exactly what it is. My brain's so used to the quick dopamine hits now that I can't sit through a full YouTube video without my thumb twitching for the skip button. I watched a 10-minute cooking tutorial yesterday and felt like I'd run a marathon by the end of it. Honestly, I'm starting to think the internet is just a giant slot machine dressed up as information.

scott.olivia7d ago

Hold on, is it really that bad though? I can still binge a whole season of something if it's actually good, I just have less patience for the filler episodes or slow parts now. Maybe we're just better at filtering out the stuff that doesn't grab us right away rather than having zero attention span.