Mobile Phone Short Video Use Negatively Impacts Attention Functions
Wednesday, Feb 25 2026
Smart phones which provide access to vast amounts of information, especially in isolated, fragmented forms, such as social media content, have led to a general decline in attention and cognitive functions. It is more harmful to the developing mind, in children and youth.
Best policy, stick to collecting and reading physical books. Save and print articles that provide a deep and meaningful treatment of an entire subject matter, and don’t fall for the social media hype. It’s a trojan horse, and has turned into a military, surveillance, psychological manipulation space, as it was always intended to be from the beginning. Social media (exposure to thousands upon thousands of bits of micro-content) erodes the ability to engage in concentrated deep thought, breaks social bonds, and decreases intellectual capacity.
This is one of many studies on the subject matter, it also references previous studies looking at social media addiction and its harmful effects on attention span and cognitive functions.
Mobile phone short video use negatively impacts attention functions: an EEG study. Front. Hum. Neurosci., 27 June 2024
The pervasive nature of short-form video platforms has seamlessly integrated into daily routines, yet it is important to recognize their potential adverse effects on both physical and mental health. Prior research has identified a detrimental impact of excessive short-form video consumption on attentional behavior, but the underlying neural mechanisms remain unexplored. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the effect of short-form video use on attentional functions, measured through the attention network test (ANT).
A total of 48 participants, consisting of 35 females and 13 males, with a mean age of 21.8 years, were recruited. The mobile phone short video addiction tendency questionnaire (MPSVATQ) and self-control scale (SCS) were conducted to assess the short video usage behavior and self-control ability. Electroencephalogram (EEG) data were recorded during the completion of the ANT task. The correlation analysis showed a significant negative relationship between MPSVATQ and theta power index reflecting the executive control in the prefrontal region (r = −0.395, p = 0.007), this result was not observed by using theta power index of the resting-state EEG data.
Furthermore, a significant negative correlation was identified between MPSVATQ and SCS outcomes (r = −0.320, p = 0.026). These results suggest that an increased tendency toward mobile phone short video addiction could negatively impact self-control and diminish executive control within the realm of attentional functions. This study sheds light on the adverse consequences stemming from short video consumption and underscores the importance of developing interventions to mitigate short video addiction.
Similarly, studies in adolescents have shown that excessive use of mobile phones, including short-form video, can lead to social withdrawal and affect normal interpersonal skills.
Relatedly, excessive use of mobile phone video may have a negative impact on attention and cause certain health risks.
The present study was undertaken to delve into the association between mobile phone short video addiction tendency and attentional functions, as well as potential changes in brain activity.
We found a significant negative correlation between short video addiction tendency and neural oscillation index reflecting the executive control network in the frontal area. This finding suggests that a higher propensity for short video addiction may impair executive control.
Furthermore, we identified a strong negative correlation between short video addiction and self-control abilities, indicating that higher addiction levels are associated with diminished self-control. Short-form videos, being self-stimulating and content-rich, capture attention with minimal psychological effort.
Prolonged consumption of such content may primarily engage the lower-order cortical brain regions, such as those associated with emotional processing, and suppress activity in higher-order areas responsible for self-control and attention. This pattern may enhance the susceptibility to short video addiction, with a simultaneous decline in self-control.
Given the current findings, we can develop mental training interventions to enhance self-control, for example, incorporating mindfulness meditation practices to address self-control deficits associated with short video addiction.
Note
The rich and powerful elite do not allow their children to use smart devices and instead teach them arts and crafts that require dexterity and aid in the development of fine motor skills and thinking abilities. These people have developed these technologies in particular directions in order to mentally arrest and subjugate the masses because it’s the only way to maintain their grip on power when they are vastly outnumbered. They took the battle from the field, into the mind, and the whole idea of “social media” was their way of destroying the free and open Internet and creating centralised systems for purposes of propaganda, censorship and thought control. Now, the fate of nations can be determined by social media platforms, which are largely in the hands of a particular group of people.
