Slowing Down

Social media is getting faster, more malice, and stealing our attention span. Should we go back to slower times?

"Online slow-living" might sound like a bizarre concept in the fast-paced digital age, but it's a term that resonates with the growing sentiment that our online experiences are becoming increasingly frantic and overwhelming. The internet, particularly social media, has evolved drastically since the early days of platforms like Facebook and YouTube. The transition from the YouTube era to the TikTok era offers a fascinating perspective on the acceleration of online content and the diminishing attention spans of users.

To understand this transformation, let's delve into some data. In the YouTube era, which can be roughly categorized as the mid-2000s to the early 2020s, video content was characterized by longer formats. Content creators often produced videos that ranged from 10 minutes to over an hour. This allowed for in-depth discussions, tutorials, and storytelling. Users were willing to invest their time in these videos, and YouTube was a platform where people actively sought out infor…