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For learning, are short videos better, or long ones? The short answer: it's not the length, it's who presses pause. First, a myth. People's attention span is eight seconds, shorter than a goldfish.
It's everywhere, but when journalists checked, they found no reliable source. Does length matter? One study analyzed 6.9 million views of online course videos. People were most engaged with six-to-nine-minute videos. Many left longer ones before the end.
So one idea at a time, then stop, is easiest to take in. But short comes in two kinds. One is in pieces: watch a piece, think, and decide yourself when to go on.
The other is one after another: a new topic every few seconds, and the platform picks what's next. Research shows that when you control the pace, you learn more deeply. In another experiment: people were asked to remember a task for later, then they scrolled.
Those watching short videos were more likely to forget. Those watching long videos or reading posts weren't affected. So pick videos that cover one idea. After each piece, pause it yourself. Turn off autoplay. It's not about length, it's about who presses pause. Think it through, then move on.
It's not the length
that matters.
It's who presses pause.
Somewhat. One study analyzed 6.9 million views on an online course platform:
Put simply: one idea at a time, then stop, is easiest to take in.
Learning research finds that splitting content into parts and letting the viewer control the pace leads to deeper learning. The first kind does this; the second does the opposite.
A 2023 experiment with 60 people: they were asked to remember to do something later, then each group scrolled through something different.
The researchers' explanation: topics switch so fast that your mind is still on the last clip, leaving little room for what you meant to do.
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