This Antidote for TikTok Brain Is Also a Problem

livemint.com:

TikTok’s surging popularity has led to copycats from YouTube and others, spreading the rapid-fire video format across teens’ smartphones. It also has fueled the attention-robbing problems that come with such clips. YouTube used to be the place where teens and preteens watched lengthy toy unboxings and videogame tutorials.

Many parents who banned their kids from watching TikTok considered YouTube to be a safer alternative. But since the debut of YouTube Shorts two years ago in the U.S., YouTube looks more like TikTok—something new research suggests is a problem. Viewing endless 15-second TikToks hurts kids’ attention spans and makes it harder for them to participate in activities that don’t offer instant gratification, an effect I dubbed “TikTok brain." Longer videos are still on YouTube, but it’s the short ones that have recently captured kids’ attention.

YouTube Shorts have a maximum length of 60 seconds. They are now watched by more than 2 billion logged-in users every month, up from 1.5 billion a year ago, parent company Alphabet said last month. Children who used to be able to regulate their YouTube watching now have trouble pulling away from the short videos, some parents say.

A new study from Guizhou University of Finance and Economics in China and Western Michigan University found that short-form videos such as those on YouTube and TikTok engage people through “short bursts of thrills," which can make it easier to develop addictive behavior. YouTube spokeswoman Ivy Choi said that research into how short-form content impacts young people is still in its early days and that the company is closely monitoring it. She added that reminders to take breaks and to go to bed are on by default for users ages 13 to 17.