Short-form videos in contemporary visual culture: visibility, attention economy and digital labour

This thesis explores how short-form videos on Instagram Reels and TikTok structure user engagement within the broader framework of platform capitalism, and how such engagement influences visual practices and content production. The research examines how creators navigate visibility, self-branding, and the logics of the attention economy, where participation is shaped by processes of spectacularization, vitrinitization and continuous demand for novelty. The aesthetic shift towards portrait-mode formats is considered as one of several changes affecting how users present themselves and how content circulates. The thesis also analyses passive modes of use, such as doom-scrolling, which contribute to accelerated, repetitive consumption. By observing both active creators and passive viewers, the study aims to understand how unpaid digital labour emerges within these environments and how short-form video formats redefine contemporary visual culture.