Seeing Your Mindless Face: How Viewing One's Live Self Interrupts Mindless Short-Form Video Scrolling

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2604.19424v1
• Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2026 12:53:49 GMT
• Title: Seeing Your Mindless Face: How Viewing One's Live Self Interrupts Mindless Short-Form Video Scrolling
• Abstract summary: This study proposes that self-related cues serve as an intrinsic, self-reflective strategy that enhances self-control over media overuse.<n>We developed an app that de-immerses users by periodically displaying different self-related cues.<n>Findings show that self-related cues effectively disrupt mindless viewing, enabling users to voluntarily stop short-form video consumption.
• Score: 4.838974688803787
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: The widespread, addictive consumption of short-form videos, which allegedly causes "brain rot," has become an urgent public concern. This study proposes that self-related cues serve as an intrinsic, self-reflective strategy that enhances self-control over media overuse. We developed an app that de-immerses users by periodically displaying different self-related cues (live camera, selfie, name in text, and black screen) and tested their effects in a laboratory experiment (N=84). Overall, findings show that self-related cues effectively disrupt mindless viewing, enabling users to voluntarily stop short-form video consumption. Interestingly, the black screen, intended as a control, elicited the greatest intention to use the app: Participants noted in the follow-up interview that they preferred the subtler reflection on a black screen over the explicit image from a live camera. The findings offer practical design guidelines for implementing self-awareness interventions in mobile contexts, including which modalities work best and how real-time contextual anchoring enhances effectiveness.

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