Losing control of the scroll: Short-form video, self-regulation and youth inclusion

Young people spend hours a day on short-form video. The project examines when this starts to crowd out everyday social life, and why the same amount of use matters more for some than others.

Short-form video on platforms such as TikTok, Reels and Shorts takes up several hours of many young people's days. The same amount of use seems to have very different consequences: for some it costs nothing, while for others it gradually takes the place of school, sleep, training and time with friends. The project asks when, and for whom, scrolling begins to displace the everyday activities that inclusion is built on — including the unplanned, spontaneous contact that much of young people's social life actually consists of.

Rather than relying on how much time young people say they spend on their phones, we follow them in their own everyday lives over a couple of weeks, combining short questions answered on the phone with information about actual use. This makes it possible to see the situations in which scrolling displaces something else, and what makes those situations more or less likely.

Concern about young people's screen use is high, but schools and youth services have little guidance on who is actually at risk and what helps. The project aims to deliver better criteria for identifying that, and to prepare a larger study.

This project is part of OsloMet's strategic research area Inclusion of More Children and Young People.