Time distortion for short-form video users

Time distortion occurs when individuals exhibit either overestimation or underestimation of the duration of events or activities. Previous studies of the relations between media use and time distortion have mainly focused on video games or social media. Given the widespread use and unique characteristics of short-form videos, we aimed to explore the effects of short-form video use on time distortion through two empirical studies. In Study 1, we conducted a three-phase survey among 111 college students consisting of demographic information, subjectively estimated and objectively recorded daily short-form video use, and a general unrelated survey task. Students were then asked how much time they spent on the survey task. The results showed that short-form video use frequency significantly positively predicted the degree of overestimation of both daily short-form video use and time spent on the general survey task. In Study 2, we assigned 62 college students to one of two priming activities (15 min of TikTok or reading) and compared their duration perceptions of the 15-min priming activity and of a subsequent 15-min general academic task. The results showed that the TikTok group significantly overestimated the duration of both the priming activity and the subsequent academic task, and their frequency of daily short-form video use significantly positively predicted their degree of overestimation. However, the reading group demonstrated relatively accurate duration estimation with no time distortion. Our findings extend the cognitive models of time perception to the field of short-form video use and provide practical implications for intervention of short-form video overuse.