You're lying on the couch, bored, looking at videos on TikTok or YouTube. You watch a video of a dog swimming, and then switch to a cooking video, then to someone doing a weird dance. But it doesn't help your boredom. In fact, according to new research, it could make it even worse. Researchers in Canada found that switching from one video to another, or moving forward or backward in the same video, can increase feelings of boredom. In a study published by the American Psychological Association, the researchers did several experiments with more than 1,200 people. In one experiment, participants were first given seven different five-minute videos they could switch between over 10 minutes. They were then given one 10-minute video to watch, without being able to fast-forward. The participants reported lower levels of boredom when they watched the single 10-minute video, and found the experience to be more engaging and meaningful than when they switched between the shorter videos. In another experiment, participants were found to be less bored when they watched a single 10-minute video than when they were given 10 minutes to skip forward and backward through a 50-minute video. Katy Tam, one of the researchers, said digital switching — switching between videos or within a video itself — can make watching something feel meaningless, because you don't have time to engage with it or understand it. "If people want a more enjoyable experience when watching videos, they can try to stay focused on the content and minimize digital switching," she said. "Just like paying for a more immersive experience in a movie theater, more enjoyment comes from immersing oneself in online videos rather than swiping through them."