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Three days without "reels" and "shorts", a young man tried it and what happened will surprise you

2026-09-09 13:20:52Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Three days without "reels" and "shorts", a young man tried

Investor Sparsh Sehgal has sparked a debate over the growing reliance on short-form content after deciding to disable Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts on his phone.

Just a few days after starting the experiment, Sehgal said he began to realize how much the endless scrolling through short videos had become a part of his daily routine.

In a lengthy post on the social network X, he explained that the idea came to him after, after a three-month break, he tried to get back into reading a book. He noticed that his concentration was noticeably weaker and decided to limit access to short videos on his phone.

Sehgal can still use Instagram for direct messages, but every time he tries to open a Reel, the app automatically closes.

"The last three days have opened my eyes to how deeply our minds have become addicted to Reels and the endless scrolling of content," he wrote.

The first days of the experiment, according to him, showed that the short videos had become an automatic reaction to any moment of boredom.

“Even if I’m doing nothing for just a few seconds, like in an elevator or waiting for someone to join a Zoom meeting, I now feel a bit anxious. The reason: Reels had become a filler activity for any moment my mind was free. The stimulation was and is extremely addictive,” he explained.

He said he also noticed how automatic this behavior had become. On some occasions, he would find himself opening Instagram and searching for Reels without consciously thinking about it, which he said showed that scrolling through the short videos had become an ingrained habit.

The experiment also made the investor reflect on the real value he was getting from short videos.

"I also realized how unnecessary it is to watch Reels. There is no value to compensate for it. I used to watch them for memes, so for entertainment, but I replaced that with longer entertaining content, like stand-up shows and sitcoms. There is a bit of boredom, yes, but no lack of entertainment," he wrote.

However, Sehgal acknowledged that abandoning Reels could also have a social cost. Short-form content platforms have become an important source of pop culture trends and references, where new jokes, expressions, and trends can appear and disappear in a matter of days.

"When everyone around you consumes the same trends and has the same context and language for humor, you end up feeling out of place if you don't know these trends. Let's see if that really happens," he added.

His concern, however, is not just about entertainment. Sehgal noted that Reels have increasingly become a way to discover products, restaurants, cafes, apps, and activities in cities.

He said he had made some of his recent clothing purchases after being influenced by ads he had seen on Reels, while the platform had also helped him discover bars and cafes.

"Reels are not just a stimulus; they are also a kind of search engine, where the algorithm already knows what you want to search for and displays it in advance. We have become addicted to them not only for mental stimulation, but also for discovering almost everything," he wrote, according to VoxNews.

According to Sehgal, this makes addiction to these platforms even more complex. People may not only use them to fill moments of boredom, but also to decide what to buy, where to go, and what the latest trends are.

His main concern is related to the impact that a small device, held in the hand all day long, can have on mood, opinions, consumption habits and daily routine.

At the end of the post, Sehgal urged users to be especially careful about exposing children to short content.

"If you have younger brothers, sisters or children, protect them from short content just as you would protect them from smoking. The impact on cognitive skills, emotional intelligence and IQ is much greater during the brain's formation stages," he advised.

The investor's experiment has sparked discussions about how short videos have become an integral part of everyday life and to what extent algorithms influence users' attention, habits, and choices.


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