To ask what is the favorite pastime of contemporary people, it is estimated that many people will say: watch videos. On the way to work, eating, lying in bed before going to bed… Short videos are more and more deeply involved in our lives.
How much time do you spend watching short videos every day?
Why are people addicted to video? What is the brain doing when watching the video?
Short video – social media explosion
In March 2021, the per capita use time of short video applications per day was 125 minutes, 27 minutes higher than that of long video, and the gap showed an increasing trend; 53.5% of short video users watch short video programs every day, 17.2 percentage points higher than long video (36.3%).
More and more people are caught in short videos that are constantly sliding and refreshing.
What’s your brain doing when you watch a short video?
People who often watch short videos have a feeling that when they watch them one by one, they gradually form inertia and can’t stop if they want to turn down all the time.
Have you ever wondered what happened to our brains at this time?
NeuroImage published a study by Zhejiang University in China. They used a functional magnetic resonance imaging to reveal the brain when watching short videos.
The researchers invited subjects to watch ordinary recommendation videos recommended to new users and personalized recommendation videos suitable for old users. It was found that when watching personalized recommendation videos, some components of the brain default mode network were more active, including bilateral superior temporal gyrus and middle temporal gyrus, temporal pole, ventral posterior cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex and angular gyrus.
In addition, the ventral tegmental area of the midbrain and other discrete brain areas related to the reward system, such as the lateral prefrontal lobe, anterior thalamus and cerebellum, also showed higher activation. Moreover, the coupling between the brain’s default mode network area and visual and auditory pathways has also been enhanced, which may make people more addicted to video by increasing attention and higher-level perception.
The default mode network is mainly composed of medial prefrontal cortex, posterior cingulate cortex and angular gyrus. It is a large neural network across the whole brain.
In the default mode, the decrease of network activity is the most obvious signal for the brain to concentrate.
When people have nothing to do and think, the default mode network will become very active.
Which nerve did the short video touch?
Adam alter, a doctor of psychology at Princeton University in the United States, listed six components of behavioral addiction in his book “can’t stop: how to get rid of behavioral addiction in the screen era”: attractive goals, irresistible and unpredictable positive feedback, the feeling of gradual improvement, increasingly difficult tasks, unresolved tensions that need to be solved Strong social connections.
Overwhelming and unpredictable positive feedback
When you open the short video software, you hardly need to do anything. The software will scroll to show you interesting and informative short videos for more than ten seconds.
The background of short video software can analyze everyone’s preferences according to big data and carry out targeted push. After watching one, people can’t help but wonder what will be next.
These surprises and surprises will make the brain continuously secrete the “happiness hormone” dopamine, which makes people feel happy and can’t help repeating a behavior.
A sense of tension that needs to be resolved but has not yet been resolved
Most short videos have only 15 seconds and are accompanied by the climax of the music, which means that each short video must quickly show the story focus of the development of the situation, which is incomplete and gives people a sense of incompleteness.
It is this expectation of “unfinished” and “is there anything else” that will stir up users’ nerves and make people want to see more and longer.
There are immediate goals
Most of the short videos are short, easy and can be read quickly without effort, which is very attractive in itself. It is especially attractive for people who need to spend a long time to feel that “one thing has been completed” in real life.
Create difficult tasks
Short video software will release some new, difficult and interesting tasks from time to time for everyone to challenge.
Strong social connections
Many times, we can see experiences similar to ourselves in videos and comments, hear what is said in our hearts, and find things that we can empathize with… These are a very safe “Habitat” for people who are lonely, incomprehensible, self doubt or maliciously attacked, making people feel that they are not alone.
How to watch short videos appropriately
Nothing is absolutely good or bad, and short videos are the same:
Short video is a tool that allows people to get in touch with more new things in a short time. The transmission of a lot of information in life really needs this short and fast way.
For example, introduce the advertising of products, an advanced technology that needs to be popularized to everyone, teach you a life skill in a short way, or lead you to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the tourist resort, etc.
On the one hand, short videos liberate the viewer’s nature and release the pressure; On the other hand, it adds happiness and fun and makes life no longer dull.
Modern people are busy at work, and their free time has become very valuable, and short video is a very typical use of fragmented time for recreation and information sharing.
This kind of communication seems to improve the efficiency, but in fact, the information obtained in a short time is not systematic, and because the video is short, it does not need people’s attention for a long time, making it difficult for people to form effective memory.
Once we get used to this way of getting information, the time of attention maintenance will become shorter and shorter.
Short video is just a tool and platform. We can become its owner to improve ourselves and enrich our life, rather than being led by tools.
When watching short videos, it is recommended to:
Control time
Watching for a few hours will not only waste time, but also affect your eyesight. You should also pay attention to the priorities in life. Don’t miss the important things in reality because of watching short videos.
Classified treatment
For some practical information that can increase knowledge or be used, you can refer to it, but for some vulgar and sensational content, you choose to ignore it to avoid adverse effects.
For those who are not so addicted and just regret spending a lot of time brushing videos, improving self-control is the key. Arranging a fixed browsing time, setting a good time, asking a friend to supervise and interrupt, and putting your mobile phone away before going to bed all help to “brake”.
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