Speedwatching: what’s behind the new way of watching series and movies

Videos, music, podcasts… Today everything is amenable to be rushed. This phenomenon, known as speedwatchingIt is increasingly common, especially among younger people. Regard increase playback speed of a content for consume it faster.

At the moment, Youtube allows viewing at 0.25x, 0.5x, 0.75x, normal, 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x, and 2x. Although this platform was the first to offer this possibility, today most of the audiovisual content platforms also have it.

In fact, this trend has caught up with the whatsapp sound, which since the last update can already be felt accelerated. Even podcasts, according to a report by Ivoox: 3.64% of users of its platform Always speed up the chapter playback speedwhile 8.36% admit to doing it occasionally.

All networks adapt to TikTok

Even in the world of social networks this phenomenon is growing. Just see the resounding success of a platform like Tick ​​tockwhich has experienced spectacular growth thanks to the fast audiovisual content for continuous consumption that offers.

According to a report prepared by leading digital safety platform for families Qustodio, the time spent using TikTok among minors has skyrocketed by 210%going from 31 minutes a day in 2019 to 96 last year.

Without going any further, other established social networks such as Instagram have created Coilshis version of these quick videos to try to compete with the Chinese giant.

The “FOMO”, the main culprit?

But… what’s the point of speeding up content? To be able to consume more variety in less time? Qustodio experts say one of the main causes of this new digital behavior is what it is known as FOMOwhich stands for “Fear of getting lost”.

This phenomenon consists in having fear of missing out on exciting events or happenings of which the debate will then focus on social networks. Ultimately it is fear of being excluded from the conversation social.

Since users don’t want to be left out of these debates, they choose to see the latest video, the latest series or the latest accelerated thought. This way they can cover more and also express their opinions on social networks more immediately.