Mi Aniefuna Senior Research Manager | Official Website
In a recent EdSurge column, Mi Aniefuna reflects on the parallels between past and present social media obsessions among young people, drawing from personal experience with MySpace in 2005 and observing her niece’s engagement with TikTok today. Aniefuna notes that while the platforms have changed, the underlying drive to personalize and participate remains strong.
The article explores how shifts brought about by events like the COVID-19 pandemic have shaped younger generations’ relationships with digital platforms. During the pandemic, children such as Gen Alpha were introduced to virtual learning environments early on, which may have contributed to increased comfort with online interaction and content consumption.
Aniefuna examines why platforms like TikTok are so compelling for youth, citing neuroscience research that highlights dopamine’s role not only in pleasure but also as a signal for learning after unexpected rewards. She explains: “We experience either positive, negative, or zero reward prediction error, which keeps us striving for more rewards.” This mechanism is similar to those used in slot machines and other variable-reward systems.
Short-form video apps leverage algorithms that continually serve users content tailored to their interests, creating an endless loop of novelty and surprise. “That constant cycle of maybe this next one will be great… is what keeps us scrolling,” Aniefuna writes. The infinite scroll feature means there is no natural stopping point—encouraging prolonged engagement.
However, she cautions against equating addictive digital experiences with effective learning. Recent studies suggest that high usage of short video platforms can activate brain regions linked to impulse control issues and habit formation. Additional research using EEG tests indicates frequent short video consumption among youth correlates with reduced attention control, higher stress levels, and learning fatigue—symptoms associated with what some researchers call “short video addiction.”
Aniefuna asks whether it would be beneficial—or even possible—to make educational content as engaging as these social media feeds. She posits: “Imagine your child or student’s TikTok infinite scroll were actually mini-lessons… each 30‑second video ended with a satisfying ‘aha’ moment.” Algorithms could adapt content based on student interests and struggles.
Yet she emphasizes that genuine learning requires more than dopamine-driven engagement; it needs effortful processing and opportunities for application. Without these elements, educational apps risk providing only surface-level understanding—a phenomenon she refers to as “edu-tainment.” According to Aniefuna: “Digital experiences can be engaging—even addictive—but if they skip struggle and retrieval, they risk producing the illusion of learning rather than the real thing.”
She concludes by questioning whether making education addictive should truly be the goal for educators: “Education apps can be addictive, but I’m not sure we want them to be.”
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