Scrolling on your cell phone amps up boredom; FGCU professor weighs in

Scrolling through your phone might seem like a fun way to pass the time, but new research shows it can actually make you feel even more bored and unhappy.

So many places to go, so many sites to scroll. The possibilities are endless, mind-numbing you might say.

Fort Myers sisters Jesse and Callie Youmans are like a lot of us, swiping through their phones without real intention.

“And then you realize it’s been three hours, and that sucks, and your day’s gone,” they said.

Ariella Vanhara is an assistant professor of social work at Florida Gulf Coast University. She’s looked at the impact of quick hits of stimulation on our psyche.

“I call it falling down the rabbit hole, so just continuously going to the end of the feed until you choose to stop,” she said.

Surprisingly, researchers find this constant scrolling leads to more boredom, not less. This does not bode well for our health.

“Boredom can be really harmful for us because we’re not engaging in certain activities or we’re neglecting responsibilities. It can also lead to low self-esteem, low motivation,” Vanhara said.

Vanhara sees the impact on the people she counsels.

“They do tend to struggle with finding themselves with endless scrolling and remaining in bed and not prioritizing certain tasks,” Vanhara said.

She urges people to pay attention to the time spent on the infinite scroll.

“We have control over the device; the device does not have control over us,” she said.

Putting power to stop in the palm of your hand.

The social media platform TikTok hasn’t expressly said why, but earlier this year, it expanded its video length to up to 30 minutes.

The site made its mark by initially creating a stream of shorts that were only seconds long.