Watching short snippets of video makes people more bored than watching a single longer video This could be because short segments don’t give people enough time to engage with the content Overall, smartphone use has been found to increase boredom MONDAY, Aug. 19, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Bored? Zipping through online videos isn’t going to help you, a new study shows. Watching short snippets of videos or fast-forwarding through them makes people more bored rather than less, according to the results of seven experiments involving more than 1,200 Americans and Canadians.
Such “digital switching” is less edifying than sticking with one video and watching it all the way through, said lead researcher , a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Toronto. “If people want a more enjoyable experience when watching videos, they can try to stay focused on the content and minimize digital switching,” Tam said. “Just like paying for a more immersive experience in a movie theater, more enjoyment comes from immersing oneself in online videos rather than swiping through them.
” Watching short videos on social media has become a common pastime, particularly as people spend more time on their smartphone, researchers said. Study participants predicted they would feel less bored by switching videos instead of watching them in their entirety, researchers said. But people allowed to freely switch between seven different videos within 10 minutes reported themselves more bored than .