Is Short Form Content Making Us Stupid?
Scrolling to the edge of doom
TikTok has been in the news lately due to the US ban. The social media landscape has changed drastically over the last few years. Ever since the rise of TikTok and Instagram’s introduction of reels, short form content has been dominating the scene. This may seem like innocent, fun entertainment, yet what is the effect on us as a collective when we consistently consume this kind of short form content?
Is it enhancing us or is it limiting us? Is it helping us to feel better and to spread wisdom and truth or is it simply making us more stupid?
Short & Sweet
The thing with short form content is that it becomes very difficult, if not impossible, to cram anything meaningful and substantial into it. Goodbye depth and hello surface level fluff! By necessity, everything has to be skimmed down to its bare bones and simplified as much as possible in order to fit into the short duration of a snappy, quick video. It’s more about hooks and grabbing the audience’s attention than it is about providing real value.
It’s true we have shorter and shorter attention spans and human beings are also hardwired to desire instant gratification. We want everything to be quick and easy. We crave the payoff and we don’t have the patience to wait for it. We want everything now. Nowhere is this more evident than in the rise of the consumption of short form content.
It’s short, definitely. But is it sweet? Not really. It can feel sweet in the moment until you realise you’ve spent hours of your day consuming what can only be defined as mediocre information. Have you learnt something? Has your mind been expanded? Probably not. Have you been entertained and had a few laughs? You bet! But at what cost?
Reeling You In
The algorithms are cleverly made. Those in charge of the social media platforms know us very well. They understand our psychology and our weaknesses. Consuming short form content is highly addictive as is the dopamine hit you get when someone interacts with your posts. We crave the attention and the validation it supposedly provides. Are we really using social media to our advantage or is social media using us?
TikTok was initially used primarily by teenagers until it took the whole world by storm. One of the dangers of the social media platforms in general is that if you wish to succeed on them as a creator you are essentially a slave to the algorithm. What does that mean in practical terms? Well, it means if you want your content to be seen by a large number of people you have to play to what’s popular and create content that is favoured by the algorithm. When it comes to short form, that content is often not very stimulating or expansive. So what do you do? You do what you must which is to dumb yourself and your message down until it becomes palatable to the platform.
When this happens on a large scale what ensues? Everything becomes dumbed down. The content that a lot of grown adults are creating looks like it has been made by a 12 year old for a 12 year old. An average 12 year old at that. Then this gets churned out for everyone to not only consume, but to glorify.
What is this doing to our youth? What is it doing to us as adults? We have to remember that what we consume matters. Our brains are slowly turning to mush. No stimulation and nothing to challenge us and make us grow.
I would prefer an intelligent hell to a stupid paradise
- Blaise Pascal
Instead of reading books and expanding our minds we are consuming endlessly repetitive and addictive content that is, for the most part, wasting not only our time, but more importantly, our potential. That’s a high price to pay for some distraction, escapism and a good old chuckle.
Short Vs Long
What we are now beginning to see is that the pendulum is starting to swing in the opposite direction. After years of short form content dominating the scene, long form is making a comeback. Why is this? I believe this is twofold. Consumers are starting to crave something more meaningful. It’s all been seen and done at this point. A lot of people want more. They want meaning, authenticity, truth, substance, depth. This is a very positive thing.
In addition, creators are becoming frustrated, burnt out and sick of having to create brain dead content over and over again. It becomes boring and unfulfilling in the long run. So what is happening? More and more people are deleting Instagram and TikTok and moving towards long form content where they can express themselves in a more authentic and wholesome way. Creators are flocking to Substack (hello! 👋), YouTube, blogs and podcasts and consumers are doing the same.
Still, short form content is highly relevant and probably will be for a good while. Before we continue to endlessly consume this we should ask ourselves who we want to be, how we wish to spend our time and what we wish to contribute to. Does the world really need more dumbed down, mediocre content? Not really.
Don’t get me wrong, some short form content is ok if it’s quickly summarising something of value and driving people to find the source of that information. More often than not though, it’s just mindless entertainment and doesn’t entice people to dig much deeper than the surface that is being presented to them. Does it foster critical thinking and contribute to our evolution? I don’t believe so. Quite the opposite.
What Next?
Ultimately, our own evolution is up to ourselves. Who we become is greatly related to how we spend our time and the information we allow into our minds. We have to also remember that who we become is what we will contribute to. It’s therefore very important who we become. Not just for ourselves but for all of us. We shouldn’t choose quick and easy over real value and depth. Where is this leading us?
If you enjoy short form content you’re not alone. I too have spent many hours consuming cute animal videos and it can put a smile on your face (animals always do!) and even teach you something even if it’s not very substantial.
Just make sure that what you consume is in alignment with who you want to become and what you wish to contribute to. And remember that your time is precious. You can never get it back. So giving too much of yourself to the lure of the world of short form might not be the best bet to optimise your life and potential.
Social media is ultimately a tool. Are you using it as such or is it consuming you whole, dumbing you down to a reduced version of who you could become? These questions are worth pondering.
Don’t ponder too long though. Make a decision and then make a commitment to yourself. It’s time to step up into a higher version of yourself and play a bigger game.
If you consume what everyone else is consuming you will think and be like everyone else. Average. That’s not who you are and that’s not who we are. We can be so much more. But first we have to have the courage to demand more.
More value, more depth, more meaning. We deserve that.
Bring on the return of long form. So we can remember not just who we can become but who we really are. That’s time better spent if you ask me!
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Brilliant thoughts, as always, Hege. Years ago a fellow blogger lamented to me that she was so frustrated that her posts rarely got comments. I knew exactly why she never got comments: Because her writing was brilliant, and she was intimidating the hell out of her readers. I never commented because I had nothing to add! I would share her posts cause the value of her writing was off the charts.
But she always struggled to get engagement. My reason for bringing this up is I think the drive to get more engagement is a big factor in the type of content being created. 3 minute videos of dogs acting weird when their owner barks at them will always get more engagement than my article that took 6 hours to write.
I think the bigger question is: What can we as content creators do to better communicate the value of our long form content to others. And at the same time, how can we make it easier for others to engage with that content?
Hege, it is all about whether you are reading or just flipping through the leaves. The condensed form of content ends before even starting and leading the world to the state of brainrot. You are absolutely right in stating that 'Short is Better, but definitely not Sweeter'. Thanks a lot for the post, Hege.