avarek2023WPI used to think that short videos were just a way to distract myself a little.
Five minutes on the phone. Watch a couple of Shorts, Reels, or TikTok. Smile, learn something new — and return to your tasks.
But at some point, I noticed one unpleasant thing.
We have become worse at handling everything that requires time and concentration.
A long text seems boring. A movie without constant changes in events makes you want to fast forward. A conversation becomes tiring. Working on one task seems too long.
And I wondered: are we training ourselves to constantly change stimuli?
What are short videos and why are they so captivating
Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels are built around a very simple principle: a person practically doesn’t need to do anything.
Open the app — and the content is already in front of you.
Watched one video — the next one appears automatically.
Liked it — the algorithm shows similar content.
Didn’t like it — swipe.
And again a new person, a new story, new music, new emotion.
It becomes an almost endless stream of information.
That’s why the problem is not in the existence of short videos themselves.
The problem starts when a person loses control over how much and why they watch them.
A recent systematic review and meta-analysis of 71 studies involving 98,299 people found a link between more intensive use of short videos and worse cognitive functioning. The most pronounced links were found for attention and inhibitory control. However, the authors do not claim that short videos are unequivocally the cause of these changes.
What are the dangers of Shorts and other short videos?
I would highlight several potential consequences.
1. Reduced ability to concentrate for long periods
This is perhaps the most obvious consequence.
Short clips constantly offer the brain new stimuli.
A few seconds — and already a different picture.
A different voice.
A different emotion.
A different topic.
Gradually, normal activities may start to seem too slow.
A work task requires 40 minutes of concentration.
A book requires attention.
Learning requires effort.
And a short video requires only a few seconds.
According to the meta-analysis, attention and the ability to suppress automatic reactions were among the cognitive indicators most closely associated with the use of short videos.
2. Habit of constant change of stimuli
I would call it not “brain destruction,” but training a certain type of attention.
If every time we get bored, we take out the phone, we are effectively not learning to endure boredom.
Bored waiting?
Phone.
Bored on the road?
Phone.
No desire to work?
Phone.
Before bed?
Phone.
And gradually any state without entertainment begins to be perceived as a problem that needs to be immediately solved.
Although sometimes boredom is just boredom.
And the brain benefits from being able to endure it.
3. Feeling of constant lack of time
The paradox is that one short video takes little time.
But the problem arises from their quantity.
“I’ll watch for five minutes” easily turns into 30–40 minutes.
And sometimes into several hours.
During this time, a person can receive hundreds of separate informational stimuli, but at the same time do nothing really important.
As a result, a strange feeling arises:
the whole day was busy, but nothing was done.
4. Ability to engage in deep tasks suffers
This is especially important for people whose work involves analysis, strategy, learning, content creation, or decision-making.
Complex tasks require time.
You can’t build a strategy in 15 seconds.
You can’t deeply study the market in one clip.
You can’t learn a complex skill by constantly switching between dozens of stimuli.
Deep work requires the opposite behavior: fewer switches, more concentration.
That’s why I consider attention one of the most underestimated resources of modern humans.
5. Sleep may worsen
An especially dangerous habit is endless scrolling before bed.
“One more video — and sleep.”
Then another one.
And another.
Studies on problematic use of short videos find a link with sleep disturbances. In one longitudinal study involving 6,691 students, problematic use of short videos at the first measurement was associated with more pronounced symptoms of insomnia three months later. Moreover, the link was bidirectional: sleep problems could also contribute to subsequent problematic use of short videos.
So here too, the situation cannot be simplified to the formula “Shorts cause insomnia.”
But the habit of scrolling videos for hours before bed definitely deserves attention.
6. Dependent behavior may form
And here it’s important to choose the right words.
Not every person who watches TikTok or Shorts is addicted.
Studies distinguish between regular use and problematic use.
In the 2026 meta-analysis, problematic use of short videos was significantly more strongly associated with unfavorable psychological indicators than just regular viewing. Among the identified associations were stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, loneliness, and boredom.
So the question is not only:
“How many hours do I watch?”
Much more important:
“Can I stop when I want to?”
If a person opens the app automatically, constantly returns to it, uses it to escape unpleasant emotions, and cannot control the time — this is a completely different situation.
What about dopamine?
Here I would especially not trust popular explanations.
On the internet, it’s often said:
“TikTok and Shorts destroy dopamine.”
This is an overly simplified formulation.
Dopamine is not just a “pleasure hormone” that supposedly runs out after watching clips.
The mechanism is much more complex.
Short videos indeed use the reward system, novelty, unpredictability of content, and personal recommendations. That’s why the endless feed can maintain the desire to continue watching.
But to say that a few Shorts “broke the dopamine system” is scientifically incorrect.
The biggest problem is not Shorts
In my opinion, the biggest problem is not in TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram.
The problem is that a person gradually gives control of their attention to the algorithm.
The algorithm knows what interests you.
It knows which videos you linger on.
It understands what makes you swipe further.
And its task is not to make you more productive.
Its task is to hold your attention.
And attention is a resource.
So a simple question arises:
Who controls my attention today — me or the algorithm?
Do you need to completely give up short videos?
I don’t think so.
Shorts, Reels, and TikTok are not absolute evil in themselves.
Through short videos you can:
- learn;
- find useful information;
- learn news;
- promote a business;
- develop a personal brand;
- find clients;
- create an audience;
- get ideas;
- meet new people.
The problem starts when the tool turns into a habit, and the habit into a loss of control.
Therefore, I wouldn’t set the goal of “never watching Shorts again.”
It’s much more useful to set another goal:
to learn to decide for myself when, why, and how much I watch them.
How to regain control over attention
I see a few simple rules for myself.
First — remove the endless feed from automatic habits.
Don’t open the app every time you get bored.
Second — don’t start the day with short videos.
If the first thing the brain receives in the morning is dozens of rapidly changing stimuli, it’s quite difficult to switch to calm work afterward.
Third — don’t use Shorts as a way to escape from a difficult task.
Because it’s at this moment that the most dangerous habit is formed:
difficult → phone → quick pleasure.
Fourth — leave room for long content.
Book.
Article.
Podcast.
Lecture.
Conversation.
That is, everything where you need not just to receive information, but to maintain attention.
And finally, the simplest rule:
sometimes you just need to put down the phone and watch nothing.
Not because technology is bad.
But because the ability to be alone with your thoughts also needs to be trained.
And finally
I don’t think Shorts “destroy the brain“.
Scientific data does not allow for such a categorical conclusion. Most studies show associations, not proving a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Moreover, the results depend on how exactly a person uses short videos: regular viewing and problematic, compulsive use are far from the same.
But for me, the main question is not even scientific.
It’s very simple:
If I can’t spend 30 minutes without a phone, but can scroll short videos for two hours — am I really controlling my attention?
And perhaps this is what each of us should think about.
Because in a world where millions of people are fighting for our attention, the ability to manage your own attention becomes a competitive advantage.
