key-jingling rage bait
on double rainbows, Skinner boxes, and One Direction.
me again! I promised updates from Richmond, but truly, the most interesting thing that happened was getting a dozen oysters and a martini at the bar. everyone wanted to be my friend! let’s talk Instagram Reels
musings on short-form video
A few months back, I had a Reel go viral about Daylight Saving Time with just the right amount of viral fodder to go around, and as of writing, it has 6.6 million views. I couldn’t think of anything else to post that day, and this is what went up. The first draft of this reel included a typo and dear Timmy disappearing from the frame at the end, and I remember watching the like count barely rise above zero for five minutes. From idea to time of posting, no more than 15 minutes elapsed.
This is not viral video 101 because I can’t say I’m proud of this Reel — it’s truly just more slop in the machine. Reels the Instagram algorithm serves to me are seldom clever or speak to my actual interests, and it almost makes me nostalgic for the Meta data mining days of yore for a perfectly curated algorithm. Most Instagram content is key-jingling rage bait that keeps me digging for that elusive trove of diamonds when all that’s left is dirt, dirt, and dirt.
Short-form video content, like that found on Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Facebook, Snapchat, now Linkedin, and anywhere else that can loosely justify a new menu option, has been proven to lead to negative physical, mental, and academic outcomes for young people.
“Physically, short-form video addiction can cause poor vision, decreased physical fitness, and possibly chronic diseases and other disorders. In terms of mental health, it can result in emotion regulation problems, reduced feelings of well-being, and even problematic behaviors such as suicide. Furthermore, among students, it has been found that short-form video addiction can also lead to poor sleep quality and academic burnout.” — via this academic article, “The effect of short-form video addiction on undergraduates’ academic procrastination: a moderated mediation model”
I hate to say it — but I’ve seen this happen to me and others! Phone addiction is no joke, and short-term video only amplifies the problem. Quick dopamine hits, the promise of hitting the jackpot, and UX that encourages deeper scrolling. Of course, Meta et al. say they want to reduce your screen time and implement measures like scroll breaks, but thank God, they’re ineffective.
I really like this video by HGModernism talking about our phones as a kind of Skinner box. She explains it all better than I can, but it all reminded me of folks on TikTok in ~2022 (when treadmills were having a moment) using special remotes and assistive phone options to scroll the app hands free while working out. Attention economy, anyone???
All of this reminds me of early internet virality. Remember double rainbow? This video got remixed, animated, and parroted in the early ‘10s, and now, that video would be just one of 10,000 in your Instagram feed. That’s not to say this video is or isn’t deserving of either fate — etched into the memory of the internet or just another cog in the slop machine — but it puts it all into perspective. Proto-short-form video content performed well on sites that weren’t equipped with a scroll in the 2010s, so it makes sense that we adapted that dopamine hit to what it is now.
The best way to end your TikTok or Reels addiction is to really think about what you’re seeing. Do I actually want to watch mindless clips of a podcast I’ll never watch? A Reel made by a middle schooler that was never supposed to be seen by more than his classmates? A recipe you will never make with ingredients you will never own??? You are the product. Your attention and ad-viewing eyes and constant search for the next dopamine hit are the product that Meta and ByteDance sell to their advertisers, and being aware of that is the best tool you have to fighting the urges of the Skinner box.
About my Reel, one more time. I took the B-roll on a walk to clear my head after a hard day and was warmed by a black cat crossing the tracks, which you can see to the right of Timmy. It was a nice moment I wanted to capture, and now 6.6 million people have seen it and likely never noticed what caught my eye.
Here are some Reels and Instagram creators I do like. Emily Gates is so freaking funny and her content reminds me of something I’d send a friend. I also love this school schedule football edit set to Halsey. And I’ll always love a left4rat post, especially those uncovered One Direction posts that I voraciously consumed back in the day. And if you see me in the Instagram Reels like of something I criticized here, no you didn’t!!!
media menu
🎥: “Now You See Me” and “Now You See Me 2” (these aren’t Good but they make for some great blockbusters and dominic sessa in the next one 🥵)
🎥: “The Settlers” by Louis Theroux (watch via X née Twitter)
🎧: “Welcome to My Blue Sky” by Momma (mark my words, they’re the next best thing)
🎧: “If You Asked for a Picture” by Blondshell (forgot about my tickets to see her in Durham last year and still heartbroken)
🎧: MJ Lenderman’s “Dancing in the Club” cover duhhhh
📺: Still “The Rehearsal” (please talk to me about this week’s episode)
🎙️: “So True” with Caleb Hearon (i’ve listened to about two episodes a day for the past week and been carefully considering what’s so true to me and if I’d win the elusive $50)
📹: “Source to Sea down the River Thames WITHOUT Leaving it,” Ed Pratt (great series to watch in the background, and it’s lovely to see how kind everyone is to ed along the way)
ISO: recipes for spring produce, jigsaw puzzles, fun books with little to no romance, melancholic summer music, and a movie that makes me feel weird
ok bye see you next time!