title: YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels are making you dumber, according to science
author: u/tylerthe-theatre
contenttype: redditpost
publication: r/technology
published: 2026-02-28T12:17:29+00:00
sourceurl: https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/1rh17h9/youtubeshortsandinstagramreelsaremakingyou/
word_count: 672
Link: https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/youtube-shorts-and-instagram-reels-are-making-you-dumber-according-to-science-3325751/
Score: 18344 | Comments: 729 | Subreddit: r/technology
Top Comments
u/zwd_2011 (2805 pts):
It must be something around short attention spans. I read the article. It's about short attention spans. Attention! No further comments from me, to fit short attention spans. You're welcome.
u/stardustantelope (172 pts):
Two things jumped out at me
1) it’s attention span and self control not “intelligence “ more broadly
2) It’s a correlation. What if people with lower self control go on social media more!?
Those who reported higher instances of consuming short-form video content were more likely to have less self-control, scored low on the test’s focus section, and showed weaker activity in the frontal midline region of the prefrontal cortex, the core of the brain’s focus and control center.
u/Answer42 (3469 pts):
Only reddit make you more smarterer
u/TheMericanIdiot (676 pts):
Wish I could disable shorts
u/EWDnutz (288 pts):
And of course this thread has a TikTok ad on reddit mobile. The sheer irony.
u/PMmeencouragement (313 pts):
Study size was 38 females and 13 males.
Almost all results showed no correlation, and the two results this study is referencing showed "significant correlation," but significant in this instance seems like a very small measure.
The study also seems to imply that no difference was noticeable behaviorally, but I'm having a hard time digesting the material. Can anyone better contextualize the results for us?
Edit: Upon re-reading, it seems one of the most significant results (p < 0.001) are in reaction time, surprisingly. A similar result was noted in the activity between the parts of the frontal lobe associated with attention span and the rest of the brain, but this result doesn't seem to carry through to many of the other attention-related measures. The strongest results the study notes were measured through a questionnaire the participants took, so take that as you will.
The lack of behavioral difference I was originally asking about seems to be specifically in hyperactive behavior. So people seem to have a shorter attention span for tasks after consuming short-form content, but hyperactive tendencies don't seem to increase.
This more recent study seems to have similar results.
Edit 2: Just to clarify, the results DO show a shorter attention span, but it's a very small sample size and very specific areas that participants showed a difference from baseline.
u/That-Interaction-45 (38 pts):
I used to read articles on ars technica, now I doom scroll reddit
u/contemplativecarrot (22 pts):
No I'm isn't!
u/Dank-Drebin (134 pts):
"While this doesn’t literally mean that TikTok is actually destroying your brain, it does show a proven correlation between lower impulse control and lack of focus in those who regularly consume short-form videos."
Maybe dumb people just like TikTok more than everyone else.
u/MrDeacle (26 pts):
Headlines with stuff like "according to science" probably aren't helping us counter the brain rot.
Does a headline like that inspire curiosity from a headline-skimmer? A further pursuit of knowledge? Or does it inspire trust and resignation and more doom scrolling?
Science should never be framed in the same language that faith is framed ("according to science"). Faith has its place; a human mind needs it to stay intact. But its place isn't in science. Scientific articles targeting laypeople should inspire curiosity, not faith.
I miss when pop-science had standards. They were low standards but they were standards; back when they had to earn your actual magazine subscription instead of just bombarding you with internet slop.
u/deepfuckingmagick (7 pts):
So is scrolling reddit
u/AbsolutelyEnough (16 pts):
Stupid social media bitch couldn’t even make I more smarter!
u/ACupOfLatte (23 pts):
A study with just 48 people though? Why did this one catch on? The article literally referenced another study that had an actually sizable group.
Regardless, it's not exactly surprising. It's the culmination of everything wrong with social media, all in one neat package. You can still use it, but as with everything, in moderation.
If you balance it out, I'm sure it's like any other vice.
u/paxinfernum (6 pts):
What the study actually showed is that people who watched a lot of shorts were high on impulsivity and low on attention span. There's no evidence of causation. It's more likely that people with those traits gravitate toward short form content.
u/Zillatrix (16 pts):
No I'm doesn't!
u/SerpentineDex (34 pts):
No shit, Sherlock..
u/spilk (7 pts):
half of reddit today is "short form vertical videos" ripped from places like tiktok, instagram, etc. it's to the point now where i skip over video links (i only use old.reddit.com on desktop so none of this crap autoplays)
u/TongueTwistingTiger (9 pts):
I think it really depends on the kind of short content you consume and what you’re doing outside of scrolling that really counts. Memes, cat videos, brain rot? Sure. That’s going to probably make you dumber. But there’s also a lot of science based content. History based content. News based content. Psychology based content. Personally, I also read for at least an hour a day. But a lot of reels I see often spark conversations with my partner about current events, art, history, scientific discoveries, etc.
People continue to villainize social media when in truth MOST media has shortened and dumbed down their content. Main stream news publications have also shortened their articles. Television places more commercial breaks in their shows to break up your attention. People forget that you’re the one informing the algorithm on what you’d like to see. So, if people tell the algorithm they don’t want intellectual content, that says more about them than it does of social media/short content as a whole.
Social media is a tool. All that matters about tools is how you use them. People need to exercise more agency in what and how they consume. It can absolutely make you dumber, but it doesn’t have to.
u/Helpful-Error5563 (10 pts):
Leave me alone I’m batin’!
u/RosbergThe8th (5 pts):
I wonder what it is? I don't know cause I didn't read the article, too long.
u/cas201 (5 pts):
I know for sure. For me, when o use TikTok more. My attention span is devastated. It’s hard for me to watch my favorite YouTube creators after words. But when I delete TikTok. It does get better