I consume a lot of digital content. I can scroll on my phone for hours, browsing through TikTok, sharing Instagram Reels with my friends, and curating my dream life through Pinterest boards. I’m a sucker for a bad reality TV show, and also devour a good documentary. But I also watch a lot of YouTube, a platform I feel like has decreased in popularity in recent years. 

Obviously, YouTube isn’t necessarily “dying”- creators continue to grow by the day, many amassing hundreds of millions of subscribers. Around three million videos are uploaded every single day. People still tune in to see their favorite YouTubers post every week, and brand deals help creators generate good revenue. And of course, there’s also YouTube Shorts, which launched in the past five years, which has helped the platform– but not our attention spans.

There seems to be a much greater focus on short-form content across social media. With platforms such as TikTok and Instagram reels growing more and more popular by the day, society has become accustomed to constant stimulation. And this is slightly concerning.

This scroll mentality, with users always craving the next dopamine hit, has the potential to really impact cognitive function. I’ve felt it myself: trying to “lock in” on my homework but feeling like focusing on one subject at a time is a battle. I feel like I need everything sped up, forcing myself to “get through” to the next thing. Even TikTok has a recent update where you can press and hold on a video for 2x speed. You know it’s bad when I’m trying to speed up a 10-second video clip out of habit. This could have harmful impacts on our study habits and patience, things that are incredibly important as college students. We need all the focus we can get for our lectures, homework, and tests. 

We should give long-form content its flowers. A lot of YouTube videos are truly cinematic experiences, whether it’s a video essay the creator poured hours of research into, a well-thought-out skit with actors and an intricate script, or a creative project with thoughtful editing and fun music. Shorter content truly lacks the depth and nuance of a quick, 15-second clip.

Short-form videos limit context and don’t provide time for lots of evidence or multiple perspectives. Complex topics get reduced to simplified opinions or “hot takes”, which can especially be detrimental when it is a political or social issue. Misinformation also spreads like wildfire in this digital age, and even more so when ideas aren’t fully fleshed out or don’t have facts to back them up. 

Watching and, at this point, making long-form content feels like too much effort. But a lot of people ARE willing to put in the effort– and can produce truly fabulous videos, films or other types of projects. I think a lot of people just aren’t appreciating what a lot of YouTubers have to offer.

Short-form content definitely has pros: it helps viewers quickly discover new ideas or creators, it makes information very accessible, and it is, of course, a fun time. However, longer content, particularly on YouTube, will always have my heart. I have fond childhood memories of laughing along to my favorite YouTubers, something I still love to do to this day. Long-form content needs its resurgence- if not for anything else, for our poor attention spans.