If you thought we had reached the theoretical zero-point of how short a short-form piece of video content can reasonably get – or wondered how they can possibly get any shorter, well, now you may know the answer: short content can just be consumed quicker. YouTube announced that users of its short-form video platform Shorts will soon be able to double videos’ playback speed so that they can “absorb information more quickly or find your favorite part faster.”
It’s good news for anyone whose income relies on viewers seeing as much different discrete chunks of content as possible, or for people who watch short videos of people who speak really, really slowly. If you have ever spied on how people consume media on their phones on public transport, you may suspect that there is a third group of people this will be used by: people who have got into the groove of quick-paced consumption, fast-twitch-flipping through videos, apps, and content.
The impact of fast, short mobile content is one of the most active areas of cognitive and neurobiological research, with studies on how fast media affects attention spans, desensitivity to dopamine spikes, the possible re-plasticisation of the brain to prefer instant gratification and the affect of short-form video on anxiety and depression in teenagers.
All concerning stuff, but back in the lower-stakes world of the music biz, we wonder if all this hyper-fast media is going to result in a counter-trend amongst ever-contrary younger teens: if all those ancient 20 year olds are frantically swiping through super-fast content, might Gen A roll its collective eyes at them – and start doing thing more slowly and deliberately?
