Attention and Micro-Temporality in Short-form Video Media
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64229/j6gesf32Keywords:
Short-form video, Attention, Micro-temporality, Platform media, Perceptual engagement, Attention economy, Media time, Algorithmic curationAbstract
Short-form video platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts reorganize audiovisual experience through temporal compression, continuous feeds, and fragmentary sequencing. These formats promote a mode of viewing that relies on rapid cues, affective triggers, and micro-durational segments that sustain attention across short intervals and encourage repeated commitments of viewing time. Rather than operating through narrative development or thematic coherence, short-form video structures engagement through discrete perceptual units, retention strategies, and platform-mediated feedback loops. This study argues that short-form video constitutes a micro-temporal media ecology in which attention functions as both cognitive process and socio-technical resource. Through conceptual analysis, the paper examines how temporal segmentation, content pacing, and platform affordances shape viewing commitment, perceptual involvement, and meaning-making. The study contributes to research on digital media by foregrounding temporality as central to the contemporary attention economy and by situating attention within platform-driven mechanisms of organization and retention. It also suggests that micro-temporal structures play a decisive role in defining how screen-based media reshape spectatorship and communicative practice.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Duoduo Mou (Author)
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