Technology Affordances, Social Media Engagement, and Social Media Addiction: An Investigation of TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts

Currently, time spent online viewing short-form video (SFV) has become an increasingly popular activity. SFV users spend over two hours daily across a variety of SFV platforms. Undergirded by the theory of technological affordances, the present study is the first to investigate the relative strength of three tech affordances-recommendation accuracy, serendipity, and perceived effortlessness offered by three popular SFV platforms: TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. A survey of 555 college students was conducted. Each respondent was asked to rate each of the three SFV platforms on an 18-item scale that measured the three tech affordances of interest. Respondents then completed scales that measured social media engagement and social media addiction. As posited, SFV users rated the TikTok platform as offering more tech affordances than Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Study results also found tech affordances derived from TikTok and Instagram Reels indirectly impact addictive social media use through the mediating variable of social media engagement. Study results show affordances offered by SFVs, as designed, are associated with heightened social media engagement, and ultimately, addiction. Future research should investigate these tech affordances and others and their relationship with heightened social media use, as well as how SFV is used (passively or actively) impacts engagement and its potential outcomes.