Instagram Reels and TikTok - Instant Escapism

How we became too lazy to rest.

Scroll to the very bottom for the voiceover.

Instagram Reels, YouTube shorts, and any other short, vertical video formats originating from TikTok, are extremely popular these days. Very entertaining and easy to consume, served to you by algorithms made by people with IQs equal to their height (in cm, obviously). No wonder it leaves your tired self vulnerable.

Since the age range on Substack varies, I want to start by saying that if you are closer to death than birth, you may have no idea what I'm talking about here. But I'm sure any youngling that doesn’t live in a cave will find it relatable, at least to some extent.

Brainrot

TikTok - practically a synonym of it. What does it even mean? It’s the equivalent of consuming empty calories but, for the mind. It’s tasty but has no nutritional value.

You thought watching TV series is a waste of time and you will get nothing from it in the future? It’s still 20x better than watching people dancing to catchy music for 6 seconds. It is quite a difficult challenge to find more worthless activity. “You are what you consume” is accurate for your mind too. And in this case, you are feeding the mind shit.

TikTok is based primarly on appearance. Don’t believe me?

1. Go on TikTok.

2. Scroll until you find anything with catchy music in the background (won’t take long).

3. Click on the spinning disc (if on mobile) or text next to the note symbol at the bottom (if on desktop).

4. You will see attractive people doing simple dances. You will see the purest form of brainrot.

And that brings the problem of giving those people a platform. If you got insanely popular by doing one simple gig - look, Khaby Lame (very accurate last name btw.) - or just looking good, you may not be the best person to have an audience of millions. And it’s often the case that the major part of the audience is young, very young, and susceptible to influence. Influence that is not always “correct”, sometimes it is even harmful.

Not to mention how silly a person watching such videos looks from the third person.

Illusion of importance

• “THIS is what happens when _______.”

• “If you _______, stop scrolling!”

• “The BEST way to _______.”

Those are “trash hooks”. That doesn’t mean those are always completely useless, you can find useful content in any corner of the internet and short-form videos aren’t an exception here. But, those are for creators, not for you. Hooks are intended to prey on FOMO (fear of missing out). Let’s face it though - one scroll away, there’s not a life-changing video, there’s another fast food for your brain. This fast food is prepared by creators stuffing attention-hooking ingredients in it and served by algorithms designed to make you spend as much time as possible.

All creators fight for attention. Attention is the currency of the Internet. Nothing wrong with that, but remember that there will always be people who will abuse any opportunity to the last drop.

Hi there, paywall below. Join ATSI as a premium sub to get free copy of “Short Practical Guide to Mental Health”, private community access and all other benefits!