The effect of TikTok exposure on young adults' sustained attention span and the comprehension of information in digital texts and videos.
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2023-06-23
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en
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Abstract
Limited literature has shed light on how individuals’ cognitive abilities may be impacted by the use of TikTok, a social media app that captures users’ attention. This raises the question of whether exposure to TikTok (light/heavy users) has an effect on young adults’ sustained attention span and the comprehension of information in digital texts and videos. This study gathered information about 191 participants on the basis of their TikTok exposure, comprehension of information, and attention span. TikTok exposure was shown to have an effect on sustained attention span, particularly in relation to distractibility. Heavy TikTok users had more difficulty blocking out distracting thoughts than light TikTok users. However, TikTok exposure had no effect on information comprehension and this effect was also not influenced by the format in which the information was presented (text/video). Accordingly, the effect of TikTok on information comprehension is not as detrimental as initially assumed.
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Faculteit der Letteren