We live in loops

Autoplay.

Infinite feed.

Next episode. These aren't just user experience features - they’re patterns we’ve absorbed, rituals we perform when real life feels too much, too fast, too disconnected.

We don’t scroll for content. We scroll for comfort

In my research on binge-watching and binge-scrolling among university students, I found that these acts often emerge not from boredom, but from emotional need. Loneliness. Social anxiety. The craving for a moment of control or presence. While brands and platforms build environments designed to retain attention, users have learned to repurpose them - not just to escape, but to soothe, to simulate connection, to feel something stable.

These aren't passive audiences

They're emotionally engaged in their own silent choreography of coping. What seems like distraction is often an act of survival - especially in the university context, where pressures collide with the desire to belong, to perform, to be seen.

Emotional Systems

This insight reminds us that even the most casual user behavior is loaded with emotional intent. To design for that is to meet people where they are - not just on their screens, but in their inner lives.

‍

Based on the master’s dissertation by Sofia Vieira Rosas: “Binge-Watching e Binge-Scrolling: os Padrões de Consumo na Vida de Estudantes Universitários”, Universidade de Aveiro, 2024.

‍

Conclusion

To understand how we consume is to understand how we feel. Brands that listen to the silences - not just the clicks - will be the ones that resonate.

‍

‍