A study published on August 19th in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General revealed that using social media such as TikTok and Instagram to deal with boredom can have the exact opposite effect — most of the study’s volunteers were more bored while using social media than off them.

Researchers conducted a series of experiments with 1,200 people, including young students from the University of Toronto in Canada. Seven different tests were used to analyze participants’ behaviors. At certain moments, participants could skip the content they were watching as they  often do on social media. During others, all they could do was switch between seven five-minute videos. In the last tests, participants were forced to watch entire 10-minute videos before switching.

At the end of the evaluation, researchers realized that those who were free to scroll through their feed and watch several kinds of content turned out to be more bored than those who had to watch longer videos. “If people want a more enjoyable experience when watching videos, they can try to stay focused on the content and minimize digital switching,” said Katy Tam, the article’s author, in a press release. “Just like paying for a more immersive experience in a movie theater, more enjoyment comes from immersing oneself in online videos rather than swiping through them.” 

Source: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General