the impact of reels on attention and memory

We all enjoy an hour or five of tiktok and reels here an there through the day, every day, while we think of it as an entertainment, to clear our head or to get rid of the stress of the job, study or even the family, we forget to think about its effect on our memory, our attention span and how does those habits of short fast videos scrolling change our comprehension of the surrounding world, or maybe shape the future of our intelligence.

Despite the effect of electronics on our eyes, body and our mental health in general, how reels and short videos impact our memory and cognitive processes?

The Power of Visual Stimulation:

Reels and short videos are known for their visually captivating nature. The combination of moving images, vibrant colors, and dynamic transitions grabs our attention and elicits emotional responses. Research suggests that visual content tends to be more memorable than text-based information. The vividness and sensory appeal of reels and short videos can enhance our ability to recall specific details and retain information.

Chunking and Memory Encoding:

Despite the potential drawbacks, reels and short videos can also facilitate memory encoding through a process called chunking. Chunking involves grouping information into smaller, more manageable units. These videos often present information in concise and easily digestible formats, allowing our brains to chunk the content into meaningful pieces. As a result, we can encode and retrieve these chunks more efficiently, aiding memory formation.

Emotional Impact and Memory Enhancement:

Reels and short videos frequently evoke strong emotional responses through storytelling, humor, or relatable content. Emotion plays a significant role in memory consolidation, as it enhances the encoding and retrieval of information. When we experience an emotional response while watching a video, the associated emotional content becomes intertwined with the memory of the video itself, leading to better recall. Consequently, emotionally charged reels and short videos can leave a lasting impression in our memory.

Those all good impact, but keep in mind that most of the reels we are watching on daily basis does not actually contain any values, it is just pit and pieces of fun, sarcasm and people’s stories, if you insist on taking you daily dose of social media, make it worth, try to follow some influencers who have high value content that might enrich your knowledge or maybe change your life, at least give you a different perspective, no harm of some flavor of fun too.

But what are the potential Negative Effects:

While reels and short videos offer benefits in terms of memory and attention, it’s important to acknowledge the potential negative effects. Excessive consumption of these videos can lead to decreased attention span, reduced cognitive abilities, and a tendency to seek instant gratification. Moreover, the constant exposure to highly curated content may distort our perception of reality and contribute to feelings of inadequacy or anxiety, not to mention the hours that you spent scrolling through social media while you might be doing anything else that might give you more joy and benefits, for me being productive brings me the greatest joy.

Those are serious drawbacks you can not ignore, if you read my review on seven sins of memory which is a great book written by Daniel Schacter, a psychology professor at Harvard, you will see that most of the memory flaws, the daily ones that we do not pay much attention to, not the serious memory conditions, most of those flaws come from our automated lifestyle, those simple acts that humans tend to ignore and it got embed in our daily life and became our lifestyle actually affect our evolution as mankind in the long term.

Our brain needs training as much as our muscles need, knowledge is the greatest food ever for your brain, just remember to feed it probably with the right nutrients.