I don't think you can draw that conclusion. With respect to Internet trash, the only real metrics are (along the lines of): how many eyes can you captivate, and

I don't think you can draw that conclusion. With respect to Internet trash, the only real metrics are (along the lines of): how many eyes can you captivate, and how long can you keep them captive. There is no real incentive to encourage people to think about what they are viewing, retain what they are viewing, or even apply what they are viewing. If anything, these thing are disincentivized. At the very least, you don't want people to realize they are viewing trash (otherwise many would go elsewhere, and quality content takes more effort to produe). You also run the risk of the audience not wanting to put in the effort, and shifting to something easier. That said, my initial response when I read "When you are standing in front of them trying to teach, they’re vacant" was, "back in my day, we had to do that without the benefits of smartphones." The whole article struck me as the type of ramblings we have heard from educators for millenia.