As an adult who has dabbled in video gaming, you’ve likely encountered the nagging thought: "Why is this game so drawn out?"

This sentiment isn’t new; it resurfaces in various articles every few years, echoing a collective frustration. Video games, it seems, have adopted a trend of excessive length.

Lately, I’ve found myself less inclined to dive into video games, and a significant reason is their duration.

Instead, I’ve turned to the comfort of classic films.

Specifically, I’ve revisited beloved films from my childhood: The Terminator, The Karate Kid, and The Thing. While enjoying these cinematic treasures, I couldn’t help but notice how they differ from today’s blockbusters—witty dialogue and more grounded action sequences, with a preference for practical effects over CGI.

One striking observation was the length; many of my cherished '80s films clock in about 30 minutes shorter than the superhero epics dominating the last decade.

It’s not just video games that have become overly lengthy; movies have also succumbed to this trend. In fact, it seems that everything we engage with—be it television shows, films, video games, or podcasts—has adopted an unwieldy length.

This realization led me to reflect on my growing annoyance with Netflix documentaries in recent years. Take the Netflix series on the Cecil Hotel, for instance. It explores the mysterious disappearance of a Canadian student, but the presentation felt excessive and convoluted.

Cecil Hotel was a frustrating watch—overstuffed and misleading. It’s a prime example of how documentaries, especially those on streaming platforms, have embraced this lengthening trend. Many are stretched into multiple episodes when a single, focused episode would suffice, or they extend beyond reasonable lengths. Just because a series like Tiger King captivated audiences for six episodes doesn’t mean every subject can sustain that format.

Cecil Hotel was simply too lengthy.

And yet, this seems to be the prevailing standard. In 2021, it appears that nearly everything we consume is… prolonged.Podcasts today seem to drag on forever.
Ever tried to finish an entire episode of the Joe Rogan Experience?
You might find it a challenge to even begin.

Television series are equally guilty.
Take the fourth season of Stranger Things—it could have conveyed its narrative in a fraction of the time.
Viewers rejoiced when WandaVision served up episodes that were a breezy 30 minutes long.

YouTube content, filled with endless rants and opinions, often feels excessively lengthy.
And TikTok? It's merely a slower version of Vine, suffering from the same issue—too long, indeed.
Remember when Twitter doubled its character limit? A classic example of stretching things too far.

Even this piece I'm crafting may be too drawn out.
Can someone trim it down, please?

The root of this problem lies in the attention economy.
In a world where every view counts as currency, platforms are compelled to create content that retains our attention longer.
This leads to an endless cycle where most media is unnecessarily prolonged.

With the internet, we’ve become adept at analyzing everything.
In the past, determining the ideal length for content was more instinctual—based on experience and polite surveys that often didn’t reflect reality.

Consider video games like The Last of Us Part II; the consensus was that it overstayed its welcome.

Now, thanks to big data and relentless algorithms sifting through our online habits, our preferences are laid bare.
Streaming services continually analyze what keeps us glued to the screen.

Somewhere along the line, the assumption was made that longer content is inherently better, regardless of the consequences for quality or engagement.

It’s a strange contradiction.
Research reveals our attention spans are dwindling, yet we are inundated with content that demands even more of our time.In recent years, the entertainment landscape has shifted dramatically, with many popular offerings stretching far beyond what seems reasonable.

Take the gaming world, for instance. A standout title from 2020, "The Last of Us Part II," clocked in at a staggering length, often feeling bloated. Developers, perhaps fearing that players might lose interest, inserted unnecessary combat sequences that detracted from the overall experience. This trend of padding content to cater to shorter attention spans has become increasingly prevalent.

Documentaries on platforms like Netflix also fall into this trap. Many recent series, such as "Murder Among the Mormons," often revisit the same themes and ideas, dragging out points over multiple episodes. The question arises: Are these extended formats a response to our dwindling attention spans, or are they simply a way to manipulate viewer engagement?

The reality might be more complex. The vast amounts of data generated by streaming services can lead to misinterpretations of viewer preferences. For example, YouTube's recommendation algorithms tend to promote longer videos, while Netflix's tendency to release multi-part documentaries likely aims to boost behind-the-scenes metrics rather than enhance storytelling.

Similar patterns emerge on platforms like Spotify, where podcasts can often feel unnecessarily lengthy. Unfortunately, there's a lack of metrics to evaluate how these decisions affect narrative quality or viewer satisfaction, leaving audiences frustrated and yearning for more concise content.

If a way to accurately gauge content impact is developed, perhaps we can look forward to a future where films, games, and shows are more succinct, sparing viewers from the discomfort of endless, drawn-out narratives. Until then, many will find themselves exasperated on their couches, grappling with the excessive length of their favorite media.

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