“I don’t know if I want my children to see short videos and are not able to see something more than 15 minutes”

The arrival of the new short videos formats driven by platforms such as Tiktok or Instagram has dragged YouTube and other social networks to adopt the same content format Based on the infinity scroll. That change has generated a growing concern among the pioneers themselves in online video.

Steve Chen, co -founder of YouTube, has shown his doubts as a father and user with respect to this format of short fast consumption videos that Pop for all attention of the user. “I think Tiktok is entertainment, but it’s pure entertainment,” Chen said.

Use and throw content. Within the framework of A talk with students From the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the YouTube co -founder was not fully comfortable with the idea that their young children grow up watching videos of a few seconds. “I do not know if I want my children to see short format content as their only form of entertainment, and that they are not able to see something that lasts more than 15 minutes,” Chen, father of two children confessed, answering the questions of Stanford’s students.

These statements show a growing concern among parents: children are digital native, but that does not guarantee that they develop skills or have the necessary tools for the responsible consumption of content served in Infinite Scroll Format demanding of constant attention.

The child’s attention capacity. Chen also insisted on an argument that has become frequent among researchers: excess short content can alter the capacity to concentrate, especially among the youngestaccording to published by The Guardian. “The shortest format content is equivalent to lower attention capacity,” Chen said in his response.

This type of highly visual videos were described by the engineer as a simple entertainment that does not necessarily provide educational or formative value, but with a high risk of affecting The attention capacity and to the cognitive development of the youngest when exposed to increasingly brief and addictive stimuli.

Screen time control. One of the situations that most disturb Chen is the role of algorithms in foster digital addiction. As explained by the founder of YouTube, many platforms depend economically that users, including children, spend as long as possible connected. “It is a delicate balance between what attracts user attention and what generates more income, compared to what is really useful,” he warned.

Faced with this risk, Chen openly suggested that technology should “consider limiting the daily use time of these applications, according to the age of users.”

Extended concern. Steve Chen is not the only leader in the digital field that has ruled on the risks of the doomscrolling. Sam Altman, who premiered paternity in February, was also worried about The first podcast OpenAI for the impact of social networks In younger users. “I am worried about children in technology. I think that short videos inject dopamine; it seems that children’s brain development is deeply affecting,” said Openai’s founder.

In that same idea, the social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, author of the Super Survents coincides ‘The anxious generation’ and professor at the University of New York, which in different interventions has warned sharply: “Social networks are seriously damaging children in the western world,” in statements collected by Business Insider. The expert has also warned that “the destruction of human care worldwide could be an even greater cost for humanity than the epidemic of mental health and health problems.”

Try to put doors to the field. Steve Chen mentioned in his talk, that some parents try to prevent their children from watching short videos “with vibrant colors and addictive eyes”, preferring longer, although less exciting formats.

The reason is clear: it is sought to prevent minors from developing an early dependence on fast and instant content, difficult to reverse as they grow. That is why parents expose them to content with a more resting rate. “If they are not exposed to the short format content immediately, then they maintain satisfaction with that other type of content they are watching (with longer videos),” said the co -founder.

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Image | Wikimedia Commons (Taiwán Plus), Unspash (Albert Oliveira)