The price of being palatable

Short-form content stifles real critique and analysis

OpinionsZoya Ramadan — Published September 2, 2025 | Updated September 2, 2025 at 9:45am 2 minutes

Online conversations are increasingly shaped by what sells, with ideas that fit into 30 seconds or less gaining the most traction. The result: a public sphere where marketability outweighs meaning, and where we gravitate toward safe and profitable narratives rather than transformative ones. 

Social media and the rise of short-form content have undoubtedly reshaped how we engage with ideas. These platforms run on algorithms that reward engagement, often favouring simple, palatable topics over difficult or uncomfortable discussions.  In practice, this also means the algorithm pushes videos that elicit strong emotional reactions far more than those advocating for reasoning and reflection.  In doing so, we become accustomed to consuming information in bite-sized snippets rather than engaging with arguments, causing meaning and truth to bend to attention.

 But the condensing of ideas comes with consequences beyond regurgitated information and shallow arguments. It also means reshaping our thinking habits. 

Short-form content discourages complexity and extrapolation. On the other hand, critical thought entails nuance, context and questions dominant ideologies. When our mental skills are shaped by what is profitable or viral, we inadvertently start becoming the product and risk losing the intellectual practices that encourage critical thinking.

Important cognitive skills such as analysis and inference may become overshadowed by the collective opinion of the public. As a result, one’s desire to learn becomes thwarted by the popular, palatable topics that circulate online, thus diminishing the inclination to analyze and evaluate information impartially, with a natural curiosity. 

And yet, it would be foolish to claim that short-form content spells the end for all nuance and critical thinking. On the contrary, it can serve as a gateway to deeper engagement. A shocking or provocative clip might draw someone in, sparking curiosity and encouraging further learning.  But to unlock that potential, we must resist skimming only the surface. We must treat short-form content as the entry point rather than the destination.

For meaningful conversations to thrive in the online sphere, we need to value and engage with longer forms of content, such as podcasts, essays or even YouTube videos, spaces that encourage dialogue. 

Insisting on nuance and sitting with ideas which take more time to digest allows us to resist the algorithms that dictate online discourse. By understanding the consequences of palatable content and choosing to shift towards slower forms of media, we can reclaim our attention and the conversations themselves.

This article originally appeared in Volume 46, Issue 1, published September 2, 2025.