Sludge content (also known as content sludge and overstimulation videos) is a genre of

split-screen Split screen may refer to: * Split screen (computing), dividing graphics into adjacent parts * Split screen (video production), the visible division of the screen * ''Split Screen'' (TV series), 1997–2001 * Split-Screen Level, a bug in the vid ...

video on

short-form video Video clips refer to mostly short videos, most of the time called memes, which are short videos of silly jokes and funny clips, most of the time coming from movies or any entertainment videos such as YouTube. The term is also used more loosely t ...

platforms like

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

and

YouTube Shorts YouTube Shorts is the short-form section of the video-sharing website YouTube, hosting content much like YouTube's primary service but in a vertical format with a maximum length of 60 seconds. Shorts have collectively earned over 5 trillion vie ...

. Characteristic of sludge content is unrelated, attention-grabbing side content, meant to increase viewer retention. Common attention-grabbing videos include repetitive mobile gameplay (notably of the

endless runner Endless runner or infinite runner is a subgenre of platform game in which the player character runs for an infinite amount of time while avoiding obstacles. The player's objective is to reach a high score by surviving for as long as possible. The ...

mobile game ''

Subway Surfers ''Subway Surfers'' is an endless runner mobile game co-developed by Kiloo and SYBO Games, private companies based in Denmark. It is available on Android, iOS, HarmonyOS, Kindle, and Windows Phone platforms and uses the Unity game engine. In ...

''),

ASMR Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a tingling sensation that usually begins on the scalp and moves down the back of the neck and upper spine. A pleasant form of paresthesia, it has been compared with auditory-tactile synesthesia ...

or oddly satisfying clips, and cooking videos. Sludge videos typically feature one panel of main content with audio, often

copyrighted A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

material. Common copyrighted material include television episodes (notably of the adult animated television series ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their ...

''),

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news news aggregator, aggregation, Review site#Rating site, content rating, and Internet forum, discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") subm ...

posts read by an

artificial voice An electrolarynx, sometimes referred to as a "throat back", is a medical device about the size of a small electric razor used to produce clearer speech by those people who have lost their voice box, usually due to cancer of the larynx. The most ...

, and videos made by other social media users. Sludge content has been labelled as overstimulating and

addictive Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use oft ...

. The genre has been described as reflecting and contributing to declining attention spans, though these interpretations have been criticized. Sludge content may also lead to normative

dissociation Dissociation, in the wide sense of the word, is an act of disuniting or separating a complex object into parts. Dissociation may also refer to: * Dissociation (chemistry), general process in which molecules or ionic compounds (complexes, or salts) ...

, which can be soothing.

Origins and appeal

The concept of sludge content originates with methods used to subvert copyright detection tools, particularly on ''Family Guy'' "funniest moments" compilations on YouTube. Editing techniques such as frequent

jump cuts A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which a single continuous sequential shot of a subject is broken into two parts, with a piece of footage being removed in order to render the effect of jumping forward in time. Camera positions of the subje ...

, overlaid unrelated clips, and

cropping Cropping may refer to: * Cropping (punishment), the removal of a person's ears as a punishment * Cropping (animal), cutting the ears of an animal shorter, usually trimming to shape the pinnae * Docking (animal), cutting a part of an animal tail, l ...

have increased the longevity of copyright-violating videos on YouTube. The proliferation of sludge content has been attributed to its ease of creation and its profitability. TikTok's "duet" feature, in which a creator can post a video side-by-side with a video from another creator, has been cited as priming viewers for this form of multitasking. Users have noted the proclivity of TikTok's

recommendation algorithm A recommender system, or a recommendation system (sometimes replacing 'system' with a synonym such as platform or engine), is a subclass of information filtering system that provide suggestions for items that are most pertinent to a particular ...

to increasingly show such videos to users; the process of steadily consuming more sludge content has been popularly described as a "pipeline" (often called the "''Family Guy'' pipeline" due to the series's ubiquity in such content). Sludge content has also been described as a form of

escapism Escapism is mental diversion from unpleasant or boring aspects of daily life, typically through activities involving imagination or entertainment. Escapism may be used to occupy one's self away from persistent feelings of depression or gener ...

. Psychologist Natalie Coyle analyzed the videos and determined that the external media increases receptiveness through the concept of "visual tactility". Digital media researcher Bjørn Nansen opined that the phenomenon should not be unexpected given the prevalence of

media multitasking Media multitasking is the concurrent use of multiple digital media streams. Media multitasking has been associated with depressive symptoms and social anxiety by a single study involving 318 participants. A 2018 review found that while the liter ...

outside of TikTok.

Impact

SYBO Games, the developers of ''Subway Surfers'', referenced sludge content on the TikTok account for the game and attributed ''Subway Surfers''' resurgence to sludge content. Accounts from content creators including British

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

band

DragonForce DragonForce are a British power metal band from London, England. The band was formed in 1999 by guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman, and are known for their long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-themed lyrics and retro video game-influenced ...

, political commentator

Hasan Piker Hasan Doğan Piker ( , ; born July 25, 1991), also known as HasanAbi ( abi meaning ''big brother'' in Turkish), is a Turkish-American Twitch streamer and left-wing political commentator. He has previously worked as a broadcast journalist and p ...

, and

Andrew Tate Emory Andrew Tate III (born December 1, 1986) is an American-British social media personality, businessman and a former professional kickboxer. Following his kickboxing career, he began offering paid courses and memberships through his websit ...

have posted videos on TikTok featuring sludge content. Companies, including

Visible Visibility, in meteorology, is a measure of the distance at which an object or light can be seen. Visibility may also refer to: * A measure of turbidity in water quality control * Interferometric visibility, which quantifies interference contrast ...

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

, and

Tums Tums (stylized as TUMS) is an antacid made of sucrose (sugar) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) manufactured by Haleon in St. Louis, Missouri, US. They are also available in a sugar-free version. It is an over-the-counter drug, available at many r ...

, have used sludge content in advertisements. The

New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party ( mi, Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa), shortened to National () or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongsi ...

used sludge content to promote their policies in the 2023 general election. A 2020 study found that engaging with various digital media on multiple devices simultaneously may worsen attention and

recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning * Recall (memory) * ''Recall'' (Overwat ...

in young adults. Concern has been raised over the popularity of such split-screen content with young children in

Generation Alpha Generation Alpha (Gen Alpha for short) is the Western demographic cohort succeeding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early to mid 2010s as starting birth years and the mid 2020s as ending birth years. Named after the first le ...

.{{Cite news , last=Singh , first=Anita , date=2023-03-29 , title=Quarter of 5-year-olds watch TikTok videos that 'blur fact and fiction' , url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/03/29/quarter-5-year-olds-watch-tiktok-videos-blur-fact-fiction/ , access-date=2024-11-12 , work=The Telegraph , language=en-GB , issn=0307-1235

References

2020s fads and trends 2020s in Internet culture 2020s neologisms Copyright infringement Digital media use and mental health Family Guy Generation Z Generation Alpha Intertextuality TikTok trends Youth culture

Origins and appeal

Impact

See also

References