Why My Grandmother Is Obsessed With YouTube Shorts

The adoption of smartphones by the elderly is often viewed as a tool for connectivity and safety, but for some, it opens a gateway to highly addictive short-form content that can alter social behavior and cognitive focus. A case reported by Business Insider details the experience of an 80-year-old Taiwanese woman, referred to as A-Ma, whose introduction to YouTube Shorts led to a profound withdrawal from her family and community.

The transition began following a health scare when A-Ma fainted due to temporary low blood pressure. To ensure her safety, her family provided her with an iPhone. While she initially struggled with the basic operation of the device, including a week-long process to master a four-digit passcode, the introduction of YouTube by her 6-year-old cousin fundamentally changed her daily habits.

The Impact of Short-Form Content on Daily Life

A-Ma became consumed by dramatic, low-budget YouTube Shorts, specifically those featuring exaggerated romance and revenge plots. These videos often depicted tropes such as housekeepers falling in love with their bosses or bullied students revealed as heirs to kingdoms. This consumption pattern began to permeate her real-world interactions and responsibilities.

The behavioral shifts were evident in several areas of her life:

• Business Neglect: A-Ma began spending less time at the family store she had established with her husband in 1975. Instead of stocking shelves in the morning, she spent her time eating breakfast while watching an endless stream of short videos.
• Social Withdrawal: Her ability to engage in social interactions declined. When a friend from a local sticky rice shop visited to share community news, A-Ma became distracted by her phone within 20 minutes, leading the friend to leave.
• Family Disconnection: During family meals, A-Ma’s attention span suffered. She remained mesmerized by her screen even while her grandchild attempted to share stories about working at an advertising agency in New York City.

The Neurological and Psychological Context

A-Ma’s experience mirrors a broader trend of “brain rot,” a term popularized by Gen Z to describe the mental fog and cognitive decline associated with endless scrolling. The term was named the Word of the Year by Oxford University Press in 2024.

Research published in NeuroImage suggests that the compulsion to watch short videos can fundamentally change how the brain processes information. According to a report from Psychology Today published on September 10, 2025, short-video compulsion is linked to a reduction in “loss aversion.” So that individuals heavily obsessed with such content become less sensitive to potential losses, leading to decision-making that is more reward-driven, even when risks are high.

Experts warn that these habit-forming content cycles, designed to grab attention within the first three seconds, can dull focus and weaken memory. This phenomenon is not limited to younger generations; other reports indicate that parents and grandparents are increasingly becoming “hooked” on platforms like TikTok and YouTube Shorts, sometimes spending hours watching the same videos repeatedly.

A Portal to an Unlived Life

While the behavioral changes appeared as a loss of focus, further reflection revealed a deeper emotional driver for A-Ma’s obsession. Her life history in Taiwan was marked by hardship and a lack of personal autonomy. Growing up during a war-torn era, her childhood was defined by air-raid drills and bunkers.

By the age of 15, A-Ma was working at a fishing port, hauling catches into the local market. She later entered an arranged marriage with a neighborhood boy, raised six children, and moved to Taipei City to start a business selling pork floss and handmade beef jerky. Because she never had the opportunity to attend school or experience the typical milestones of adolescence, the “cringey” romance videos served as a proxy for a youth she never experienced.

The author of the Business Insider account concluded that the iPhone acted as a portal, filling a void A-Ma had not previously acknowledged. This emotional connection was highlighted during a final visit when A-Ma attempted to use the phone’s dictation feature. Using the microphone button, she uttered the phrase Young. Stories.

Although her thick dialect made the request incomprehensible to the device’s voice assistant, the request clarified her motivation: she was not merely consuming content, but seeking a connection to the young adulthood that had been denied to her.