For a long time, I used to convince myself that spending hours on TikTok and X was somehow necessary because it was the only way to keep up with what was happening in the world. I told myself I wasn’t just scrolling for fun, that I was learning and it somehow made me feel less guilty about the time I was losing.
But over time I realized that this habit was slowly destroying my attention span and my brain in general : I could watch dozens of videos in a row and be unable to recall what I had seen only a few minutes earlier, let alone reuse that information later in a meaningful way.
Social media does have its advantages. Indeed, the news arrives instantly, and often directly from the people experiencing it which makes it feel raw, authentic and emotionally powerful. The problem is that this immediacy comes at a cost: when the content is so personal and so quick, it becomes difficult for us viewers to step back, to compare perspectives and to truly analyze what is being shared. I often felt like I was absorbing fragments of reality without really being able to put them into context.
That was when I started to look for different ways of informing myself. I began following creators such as Madisyn Brown or Meg, who don’t just react to trends but take the time to explain them and analyze their cultural impact. Their approach helped me see connections and meanings I would have completely missed in the endless flow of short-form content. At the same time, I started turning to longer and slower formats like Arte documentaries. Arte is a Franco-German public TV channel that produces cultural and social documentaries with subtitles in several languages. The thing I appreciate the most in their programs is that it gives me time to concentrate on one topic in depth instead of constantly switching from one subject to another as on TikTok.
I noticed a clear difference in the way my brain processes this type of content. When I watch an Arte documentary, I can still remember the information months later and use it again in a conversation or in my own reflections. By contrast, after spending half an hour on TikTok, I would often struggle to remember even a single video I watched a few minutes earlier. It makes sense cause the length and focus of the documentary require me to concentrate fully, while the algorithm of short videos constantly interrupts my attention with unrelated content. The result is that my brain actually records the information instead of letting it slip away.
That being said, I also know that even with a channel like Arte, I need to stay critical. Before starting a documentary, I try to let go of any stereotypes or preconceived ideas I might have about the country or subject so that I don’t just confirm my own biases but engage with the content in a more open way.
For me, this is what being critical of digital media really means: not rejecting one platform in favor of another, but understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each and consciously choosing how I want to consume information so that it enriches me rather than overwhelming me.
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