Scrolling through online videos increases boredom

The vast majority of people in the UK have access to a smartphone — which, in turn, gives them access to TikTok, YouTube, Netflix, and pretty much any other kind of digital media they could possibly want, at any time. As one poster somewhat flippantly put it on Twitter/X: "Can't seem to sleep. Let's see if the bright light of my phone containing all the information in the entire world held inches away from my face for the next 15 minutes manages to lull me into a peaceful slumber."

In theory, being able to conjure information or entertainment so easily means we should never be bored (even if it does stop us from getting to sleep). But as the University of Toronto's Katy Y. Y. Tam and Michael Inzlicht explore in a new paper, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, switching between lots of different online content could be making us more, not less, bored.

After an initial study, which confirmed that people are more likely to rapidly switch between shortform videos when they feel more bored, the team conducted further experiments to understand how digital switching impacts boredom.

In the first, participants in the no-switching condition watched a ten-minute, unskippable video; those in the switching condition were provided with seven five-minute videos they could skip whenever they wanted. After the ten minutes were up, they reported how bored they felt. Those who could not switch between videos reported being significantly less bored than those who could, and also rated their experience as more satisfying, engaging, and meaningful. These results were replicated in a further study, in which some participants could switch back and forth in time during one video and others had to watch it in one go.

Next, the team took their experiment to the more naturalistic setting of YouTube. After selecting a video at least nine minutes long, some participants were again told they could skip back and forth, while others were told that they had to watch the video through. They later rated their levels of boredom, satisfaction, attention, and how meaningful their experience felt, as well as answered two open-ended questions about what drove them to skip through videos.

Again, participants were less bored in the no-switching condition, though there was no difference in satisfaction, attention, or meaningfulness. In the open-ended questions, participants stated that they had switched and skipped through videos precisely because they were bored, with over 50% citing that reason.

Overall, the results suggest a chasm between what we think will help our boredom and what actually makes us bored. It feels paradoxical: if something feels tedious, then it makes sense we'd jump to something else. But, in reality, this doesn't seem to do the job.

The team compares the no-switching conditions to being in the cinema or theatre: because you know you are having a longer, more immersive experience, you are more likely to pay attention to what you're watching. They suggest that switching between different tasks disturbs attention, reducing immersion and heightening boredom at the same time.

While boredom can sometimes be good for you, it's not a feeling that we always want. So, the next time you're looking to bust boredom, this study would suggest that the seemingly quick-fix solution of scrolling through videos might not be what you're looking for; even if it feels contradictory, slowing down might be just what you need.

Read the paper in full:

Tam, K. Y. Y., & Inzlicht, M. (2024). Fast-forward to boredom: How switching behavior on digital media makes people more bored. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001639