Rich content categories, concise and practical content, precise interest-based push notifications... Short videos are constantly attracting people's attention. But while enjoying the audio-visual feast, excessive short-video scrolling can also bring some negative effects.

　　Recently, a survey of 1,557 respondents conducted by the Social Survey Center of China Youth Daily in collaboration with wenjuan.com showed that when it comes to excessive short-video scrolling, 71.3% of respondents said it easily turns people into "phubbers" who talk less with others, and 55.5% lamented that their leisure time is all taken up by mobile phones.

　　Liu Yanan, who works in the media, told reporters that due to work needs, she began following the micro-drama industry last year. At first she was just an observer, but recently she found herself hooked on micro-dramas, some of which have episodes lasting only one or two minutes, "and scrolling through them is very 'addictive'." Last weekend she had planned to rest and relax at home without arranging any outings, but ended up scrolling micro-dramas at home for two days. Not only did she fail to rest well, but she also felt she had somewhat wasted her time. "Short videos were originally meant for occasional entertainment, but I ended up investing a lot of time in them, which leaves me feeling somewhat burdened."

　　Hua Li is a post-95 employee at a private company in Shanghai. She likes scrolling short videos, especially before bed at night, when she always wants to use short videos for a "moment of leisure." "I often plan to scroll for a while and then rest, but the more I scroll, the more engrossed I become, and in the end I stay up late."

　　Hua Li admitted frankly that excessive short-video scrolling has brought her many problems. On workdays, she cannot get up the next day, feels light-headed, and works inefficiently. On rest days, she is often so immersed in short videos that her original plans are disrupted. "For example, I want to meet up with classmates or go out for a walk, but because I'm in the middle of enjoying short videos, I'm too lazy to move." She also said that her parents are now often addicted to short videos as well.

　　Speaking of the older generation "falling in love with short videos," Hua Li sighed that the time they used to spend taking walks and visiting neighbors to chat is now largely spent on short videos, and they have become more "homebound." "Recently they keep complaining about dry, sore eyes and joke that they thought they were quite self-disciplined people, but never expected that in old age they would instead become 'internet addicts.'"

　　Zeng Xiao, a post-90s resident of Hangzhou, used to enjoy scrolling short videos but has done so less recently. He believes that some short-video platforms advertise that users can get cash back for watching for long periods, thereby attracting traffic, and this model especially appeals to a group of retired elderly people. "This makes many elderly people spend a lot of time on useless, low-value videos, and their quality of life declines." At the same time, he also pointed out that some short videos, in order to promote products, carry shopping links, which easily induce minors and young people to spend money.

　　What effects does excessive short-video scrolling bring? The survey shows that 71.3% of respondents pointed directly to becoming "phubbers" who talk less with others, 55.5% lamented that their leisure time is all taken up by mobile phones, 54.7% felt that their efficiency in real life and work has decreased, and 40.5% believed it has reduced their capacity for deep thinking.

　　Among the respondents to this survey, 27.6% were post-00s, 42.8% were post-90s, 23.1% were post-80s, 5.0% were post-70s, and 1.5% were others.