• gmtom@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    The media has to be short because its for an audience that’s stealing time in the middle of a commute or during a break at school or the offic

    Except most people you speak to will tell you they spend hours in bed scrolling. Short form took off because it drives higher engagement.

    And its as prone to getting enshittified as every other venue, thanks to the endless need for higher profits.

    Except its never not been shitty. I wa son it back when it was musical.ly it has much of the same problems.

    Albino Blacksheep and YTMND meme-tier content

    Which are far more creative than doing whatever the current trend is, or a thirst trap or click bait.

    People say this shit about every medium. And there’s definitely awful pieces of individual content.

    But with tiktok you can feel it. I hate short form but still end up scrolling mindlessly through YT shorts or IG reels. And it really does measurably affect your attention span. And it’s so noticeable that the user base openly acknowledges the brain rot.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      most people you speak to will tell you they spend hours in bed scrolling

      This seems like an exaggeration on a number of fronts. But even if you can find folks doing this, what’s the counterfactual? Would these same people be out hitting the gym or gardening or curing cancer? Or would they just be watching TV or reading a book, instead?

      Short form took off because it drives higher engagement.

      There are folks binging seasons worth of Netflix who would argue otherwise.

      Which are far more creative than doing whatever the current trend is

      They’re absolutely not. Go back through the dredges of the '00s-era content mill and you’ll find plenty of low-effort crap. Hell, YTMND was the pinacle of low effort crap. It was shit you could crank out in ten minutes with MS Paint and a collection of mp3 snippets.

      And it’s so noticeable that the user base openly acknowledges the brain rot.

      You’d have heard from folks reading tabloid news or watching reality TV decades ago.

      • gmtom@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Would these same people be out hitting the gym or gardening or curing cancer? Or would they just be watching TV or reading a book, instead?

        I mean ive personally just zoned out scrolling short form and missed my chance to go to the gym before. obviously might not be the case for everyone but is certainly plausible.

        There are folks binging seasons worth of Netflix who would argue otherwise.

        That doesnt disprove what I said at all.

        They’re absolutely not. Go back through the dredges of the '00s-era content mill and you’ll find plenty of low-effort crap.

        Creativity != effort and even then most tiktok stuff is as low effort as it gets.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          I mean ive personally just zoned out scrolling short form and missed my chance to go to the gym before.

          I’ve seen people scrolling in between reps at the gym. But, again, would this not have been a problem if you’d been blogging instead of TikToking? Or Netflix binging?

          That doesnt disprove what I said at all.

          Multi-hour tv series are not short form.

          Creativity != effort

          A picture of a celebrity attached to a quote from a movie played on a loop is neither.

          • gmtom@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            I’ve seen people scrolling in between reps at the gym. But, again, would this not have been a problem if you’d been blogging instead of TikToking? Or Netflix binging?

            The point is short form content enables that behaviour more than other things. Its taken off specifically because its addicting and makes you think “its only a short/reel/tiktok just one more… okay one more…etc” that you dont get with hour long netflix episodes.

            Multi-hour tv series are not short form.

            No one is arguing otherwise and long form content just existing doesnt disprove that short form drives higher engagement. Its like saying “Taylor swift songs are the most popular” and replying “but ACDC exists?” That doesnt disprove the original statement.

            A picture of a celebrity attached to a quote from a movie played on a loop is neither.

            ok

            • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              The point is short form content enables that behaviour more than other things. Its taken off specifically because its addicting and makes you think “its only a short/reel/tiktok just one more… okay one more…etc” that you dont get with hour long netflix episodes.

              I simply haven’t seen anything to support this claim.

              No one is arguing otherwise and long form content just existing doesnt disprove that short form drives higher engagement

              You haven’t established anything to disprove. You’ve just asserted it with some personal anecdote about missing a gym appointment.

              Its like saying “Taylor swift songs are the most popular” and replying “but ACDC exists?”

              It’s like saying Taylor Swift isn’t inside the top 10 of the Billboard Top 100 so why do you keep insisting that her overwhelming popularity is corrupting America’s fragile young egos?