What "Infinite Scrolling" Was For

Summary

The video argues that infinite scrolling is neither inherently harmful nor inherently beneficial. Its effects depend on the user’s purpose—and on who controls what appears next.

How infinite scrolling works

The host distinguishes three related interfaces:

• Continuous feed: A single page loads more content as the user scrolls, as on X, Bluesky, Facebook, and Instagram’s home feed.
• One-item-at-a-time feeds: Each swipe advances to exactly one item, as on TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Though often associated with endless feeds, this is technically a form of pagination.
• Automatic scrolling: Content advances without the user scrolling. This is available on TikTok and Reels and is described as the default on X.

The video says the interface is not the most important factor in these experiences. Recommendation systems decide what users see next, often with the goal of keeping them engaged and showing them ads.

The original purpose—and where the technique fits

Infinite scrolling emerged as a way to make exploration easier. In 2005, a Microsoft team working on image search noticed that users moved through image results more quickly than conventional web results. Pagination interrupted that process, so the team removed it. Aza Raskin later made a similar argument: digital pagination can interrupt attention and task continuity.

The technique is better suited to exploration than to finding something specific:

• When people have a specific target, continuous loading can make it harder to stay oriented and locate the right result.
• When people are browsing without a fixed target, it can make it easier to discover more content.
• Examples of search products moving away from continuous loading include Etsy’s product search, Google’s return to a traditional paging bar, and Amazon’s desktop search.

The host argues that infinite scrolling is not simply “good” or “bad”: it works when it matches an exploratory purpose and works poorly when used for goal-directed search.

Aimless scrolling and stopping

The video identifies a third situation: browsing without any particular aim. In that case, a continuous feed can make it harder to notice that there is no specific goal—and can keep the session going.

Two studies illustrate this concern:

• 2023 University of Ulm field study: Researchers observed the scrolling sessions of 46 people over one week.
  • Sessions commonly ended because something outside the app reminded participants to stop.
  • Users rated sessions involving only scrolling, without searching for anything specific, more negatively.
  • The authors described two nested loops: the individual scrolling session and the broader habit of scrolling.
• Amanda Baughan and colleagues’ study: Using a custom version of Twitter, the researchers examined “mindless scrolling,” which they described as having features of normative dissociation—not addiction, but a state akin to becoming absorbed in a book.
  • They added endpoints, such as lists of people to follow that could be exhausted.
  • A “you’re all caught up” message reduced users’ absorption in scrolling.
  • The video uses this finding to argue that feeds need meaningful edges that let people pause or stop.

Who supplies the purpose?

When users browse without a goal, the platform’s selection system can supply one: the platform decides what to show next. The host stresses that the scrolling mechanism itself does not determine the purpose of the experience; the content and systems operating through it do.

Examples show that the same feed format can serve different purposes. The New York Public Library published novels as Instagram Stories, and TikTok launched a STEM-focused version of its For You feed. These examples do not change the underlying mechanism, but they change what it is used to deliver.

The broader history of attention and advertising

The host connects modern feeds to older forms of commercial media:

• In 1973, Richard Serra and Carlotta Fay Schoolman made Television Delivers People, a video arguing that commercial television delivers audiences to advertisers—and that viewers are, in effect, the product.
• In 1974, cultural critic Raymond Williams described television “flow”: programming that blends into trailers, advertisements, and the next program, making viewers less likely to switch off.

The video presents today’s social-media feeds as a digital version of that commercial flow. What has changed is the scale and portability of the experience: streams now follow people on pocket-sized devices, and recommendation systems personalize what appears. The host also notes that hooks once spread across television programs now appear within individual online videos and even before they begin.

The video’s conclusion

The host argues that blaming infinite scrolling alone misses the larger issue. It can be useful for exploration, but it is most concerning when people have no goal and platforms have strong commercial incentives to keep supplying one. Simply banning the interface may not solve that problem: the same incentives could produce different designs that keep people engaged. The video closes by framing the deeper question as how people choose to spend their time.

Speakers and sources featured

• Saleh: Host and narrator of Interface Studies.
• Microsoft engineering team: Developed continuous loading for image search in 2005. The video also refers to Hugh E. Williams’s account of the work.
• Aza Raskin: Advocated replacing digital pagination and later became publicly associated with, and apologetic about, infinite scrolling.
• 2020 study on continuous loading: Cited for the distinction between searching for a specific item and exploratory browsing; the researchers are not named in the subtitles.
• Etsy, Google, and Amazon: Search-product examples used to discuss pagination and continuous loading.
• 2023 University of Ulm field study: Researchers observed one week of scrolling sessions among 46 people; individual researchers are not named in the subtitles.
• Amanda Baughan and University of Washington colleagues: Studied mindless scrolling and the effects of adding endpoints to a social-media feed.
• New York Public Library: Published novels as Instagram Stories.
• TikTok: Cited for its STEM-focused feed and for one-item-at-a-time and automatic-scrolling features.
• Richard Serra and Carlotta Fay Schoolman: Creators of the 1973 video Television Delivers People.
• Raymond Williams: Cultural critic who analyzed commercial television’s “flow” in 1974.
• Apple: Referenced for a 1994 patent related to a basic ranking algorithm.
• Mobbin: Sponsor of the video; its product is promoted as a library of app screens for design research.