News, entertainment, travel and product reviews now come in reels and short videos of 15 to 60 seconds. Watching takes only a tap on the play button; reading needs extra attention, imagination and the ability to resist notifications. Kolkata's Ei Samay has looked at what recent research says.
It cites a study published in Psychological Bulletin in 2025 that analysed 71 trials and more than 98,000 people and found that heavy short-video viewing was associated with weaker concentration and cognitive performance in both adults and young people.
Another study, published in JAMA Network Open in 2026, found that 11- to 18-year-olds check their phones about 64 times on average during class. The researchers caution, however, that such studies do not prove cause and effect: people who already find it hard to concentrate may simply be drawn more to short videos.
On the other side, a joint study by the universities of Cambridge, Warwick and Fudan, analysing data on more than 10,000 adolescents, found that children who read for pleasure from an early age do better at school and in cognitive tests and have fewer mental health and behavioural problems. A reader has to build characters and places in the imagination, without the rush of a video.
To rebuild the habit, the report says, there is no need to start with long or difficult books. Getting used to new information every few seconds makes it harder to focus in meetings, classes or deep discussions, so starting small is what works.
Written for Ei Samay by Ankita Das.
Photo: A person reading a book, Christopher Michel / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Source: Ei Samay
Comments
(0)