Cognitive Fatigue and Creativity in Art and Design Students: Insights from TikTok, Pinterest, and Other Social Media Platforms
Abstract
Social media users overexert their mental resources by being exposed to a constant flow of information. This situation triggers cognitive fatigue symptoms such as difficulty in focusing, mental fuzziness and decreased decision-making capacity. Cognitive fatigue can negatively affect creativity by reducing the effectiveness of attention, flexible thinking and problem-solving skills necessary for creative thinking processes. The aim of this study is to reveal the effects of digital environments on creative potential by examining the relationships between social media use, cognitive fatigue and creativity in art and design students. The study, which was conducted with a quantitative and cross-sectional survey model, included 196 undergraduate students (122 female and 74 male) from the Faculties of Fine Arts and Design of universities in Turkey. The data were analyzed with SPSS 30.0 program. Correlation, simple linear regression, one-way ANOVA, MANOVA and post-hoc Games-Howell test were used in data analysis. The findings showed that cognitive fatigue increased, and creative thinking decreased as the level of social media use increased. In addition, cognitive fatigue and creativity levels of students using different social media platforms differ significantly. Social media use negatively explains a significant portion of the change in creativity. The findings point to the need to develop digital media strategies to preserve creative potential.
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Ethical Statement
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Communication Technology and Digital Media Studies, Communication and Media Studies (Other)
Journal Section
Research Article
Publication Date
June 20, 2026
Submission Date
August 31, 2025
Acceptance Date
June 4, 2026
Published in Issue
Year 2026 Volume: 11 Number: 2
