The Effect of TikTok and YouTube Shorts on Teenagers’ Ability to Focus Theoretical and methodological background for a possible appoach

Abstract

The biological maturation of the brain during adolescence, the social-emotional needs of teens, and the environment of TikTok and YouTube Shorts precisely engineered to maximise user engagement all play a part in the success of these fast-paced video apps in this age-group. There are increasing number of reports on teenagers’ lack of focus on a learning material after excessively using such apps, however the empirical research of this topic is lacking. The proposed research aims to fill in the gap in the field of developmental psychology by investigating whether there is a relationship between the ability to focus attention and the consumption rate of short, fast-paced videos on TikTok and/or Shorts. The proposed quasi-experiment is a longitudinal study of 3 cohorts aged 13-15 studying in a multi-cultural Southern-English city. N=105 (45-55% female, 45-55% male).