In another feature launch, Instagram will copy TikTok by playing a reel at 2x speed. By pressing on the right or left side of the screen for a long time, users will be able to watch the reel fast-forward. It is not the first time that Instagram has copied TikTok. Previously, Instagram launched a 15-second video feature, which was extended to 3 minutes later. This feature was launched on TikTok lines, enabling users to watch short reels of 15 seconds. Other social media platforms, including YouTube and Meta, adopted this feature. Later, TikTok introduced the option for users to speed up videos, considering users’ short attention spans.
The idea behind short reels is to offer quick, bite-sized content to users. However, this has raised concerns about negatively impacting users’ attention spans as people start to lose focus on longer-form content.
Death of Attention Spans
In the 1950s, American psychologist B.F.Skinner found that rats become bored and uninterested when regular rewards are given after pressing a lever. However, when the rewards are awarded unpredictably, rats become obsessive and abandon their usual activities. Based on this research, continuous positive reinforcement was the least effective reward pattern. This phenomenon is applicable to humans, too, who have fallen into the same obsessive behaviour due to the algorithmic set-up of reels, providing short entertaining content, boosting curiosity to watch more.
According to research conducted by the Technical University of Denmark, ‘Accelerating Dynamics of Collective Attention’, attention spans have decreased significantly over time due to the increasing production and consumption of content. The research found that in 2013, the # hop hashtag stayed for an average of 17.5 hours; in 2016, the top hashtag only stayed for 11.9 hours.
The newly launched feature of Instagram may increase its views as users will be watching videos faster and for shorter periods of time. Still, considering the potential negative impact on mental health, users need to reconsider the pros and cons of watching online content for a longer period.
Unfortunately, this new Instagram feature does not work in Posts, only in Reels.
For people who want to save time by watching any video content at a faster speed, there is a special mobile app called ClipGlider. It allows you to watch any video at a customised speed (e.g. 1.35x or 3x) – on any social network and on any website. So it works on Instagram (in Reels, Live recordings, Stories and posts), YouTube (including Shorts!), X and Snapchat, and offers autoscroll functionality there too. This will save you a lot of time.
It also adds the ability to watch any social network in picture-in-picture mode, in the background or even with the device screen locked off (like YouTube Premium, but it works everywhere, including YouTube and Instagram).