Healthcare

Streaming Services Adopt Short-Form Content As Attention Spans Plummet

TikTok on iPhone in hand in a cafe or coffee shop. (Flickr/https://nordskovmedia.dk/)

Streaming services are tapping into short-form content as Americans’ attention spans continue to plummet.

HBO Max became the largest streaming service to roll out a short-form video feed feature, TechCrunch reported Tuesday. Its competitors may join in despite medical professionals warning that short-form content could be driving America’s declining attention spans.

Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns HBO Max, did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

“Attention spans are lower now than they were decades ago. ADHD due to technology has increased because of how screens affect the brain,” psychotherapist Nicole Runyon told the DCNF. “The blue light and fast-paced imaging overload the brain, especially children with developing brains.”

People’s average attention span dropped from around 2.5 minutes in 2004 to 47 seconds by 2020, University of California Irvine (UCI) informatics professor Dr. Gloria Mark told the UCI Podcast in 2023.

Short-form videos are so compelling to watch in part because they make the brain think it’s in danger, according to Runyon.

“The human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than text. And current video imaging is faster due to advanced technology,” Runyon said. “This kind of fast-paced video watching hinders brain processing because the person watching short-form content is in the fight-or-flight function of the autonomic nervous system; simply put, the body responds to this stimulus as a threat, and the person watching short-form content can’t calm down.”

Because the brain is on constant high-alert, the part responsible for focus and executive functioning shuts, Runyon said.

The brain needs both eyes and ears to process visual and auditory information. “If someone is watching short-form content, their eyes and ears are not aligned because of the faster-paced imagery. Their eyes don’t track, and their ears don’t hear everything because it’s too fast,” Runyon said.

Additionally, Runyon noted that because people who view short-form content likely do so when they aren’t moving, the brain’s hemispheres aren’t getting the mutual engagement necessary to process that information.

Runyon said that “human connection” is the solution to reclaiming your attention span.

“When our eyes look into someone else’s, we release oxytocin; this hormone is known as the love hormone and is very calming. Connecting with humans, being outside in nature, connecting to earth, and being bored are ways we can calm the nervous system and use the other parts of our brain, stimulating the prefrontal cortex executive function and regain attention and focus,” Runyon told the DCNF.

Short-form social media content first emerged with Vine in the early 2010s, according to Medium. TikTok brought it in the mainstream, then Instagram and YouTube followed suit amid the COVID-19 pandemic with “Reels” and “Shorts,” respectively.

Even eBay is promoting short-form content to connect buyers with sellers by launching a generative AI tool in 2025 that can turn listing images into short-form videos.

“We’re thrilled to launch this application of AI to accelerate the creation of these clips and look forward to quickly expanding to make even more of our amazing content offering discoverable through this new feature,” HBO Max senior vice president of machine learning engineering Deepna Devkar said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

HBO Max’s “Shorts” feature opens a feed of vertical clips, trailers, and other content based on user’s watch history, according to TechCrunch. Upon interacting with a Short, users can either start watching the whole show or movie, or add it to a watch-later list. The feature is now available to Android users and may be expanded to more markets soon.

Multiple of HBO Max’s competitors announced plans to feature short-form content, CNET reported Tuesday.