Just in case there was any doubt about how Jack Dorsey really feels about Bluesky, the former Twitter CEO has offered new details on why he left the board and deleted his account.
It looks like that study checked the effects of short-form content addiction, rather than short-form content in general. Addiction can be caused by underlying factors, such as stress or depression, which are shown to reduce attention span so I don’t think it really shows a direct causal connection. In fact, I think it’s more accurate to say short attention spans cause short-form content rather than the other way around.
That said, excessive social media consumption can make stress and depression worse, I just think we’re focussing on the wrong aspect of social media’s effect on our mental health.
It looks like that study checked the effects of short-form content addiction, rather than short-form content in general. Addiction can be caused by underlying factors, such as stress or depression, which are shown to reduce attention span so I don’t think it really shows a direct causal connection. In fact, I think it’s more accurate to say short attention spans cause short-form content rather than the other way around.
That said, excessive social media consumption can make stress and depression worse, I just think we’re focussing on the wrong aspect of social media’s effect on our mental health.