Skipping, fast-forwarding videos linked to boredom: study

A new study has found that switching to another video, or forwarding or skipping backwards while watching the same one tends to make people more bored. 

Dr Katy Tam from the University of Toronto Scarborough, the lead author of the study, has written in the Journal of Experimental Psychology that boredom is very closely related to attention.

“We feel bored when there’s a gap between how engaged we are and how engaged we want to be,” she said. “When people keep switching through videos, they become less engaged with the videos and they are looking for something more interesting. This can lead to increased feelings of boredom.”

Dr Tam and her colleagues reiterate previous research that suggests that the same use of technology to avoid or counter boredom makes the feeling worse. 

Tam also wrote in the journal that watching videos to the end or taking the time before fast-forwarding videos or skipping them entirely could be worth it to stay focused and avoid the sense of boredom. 

“Our research shows that while people fast-forward or skip videos to avoid boredom, this behaviour can make them feel more bored,” she said. “Just as we pay for an immersive experience in a movie theatre, enjoyment often comes from immersing ourselves in videos rather than swiping through them.”