Why Are Attention Spans Getting Shorter?

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    Social media, constant notifications, and high access to screens are all present in most people’s lives in this day and age. Your phone has a screen that shows you short videos and short social media posts, and notifies you whenever there is a new post, you have a new message, or there is a news event that it determines you need to know about. Your watch likely gives you those same notifications, and may even tell you that you should be moving or standing more. Your home and job are likely both home to multiple screens in addition to the ones in your pocket or on your wrist.

    That description might have overwhelmed you so much that you felt the need to glance away and look at your phone for a second. Alternatively, maybe you got a notification that you had to check your text messages, email, or even your social media feed. You’re not alone, though—studies have shown than in recent years, attention spans have decreased dramatically in the last two decades (Mark & Mills, 2023). To better understand this, it is helpful to know a little bit about attention and focus.

    Gloria Mark, PhD, explains that there are two different types of attention. Focused attention occurs when a person is both engaged and challenged by the task at hand, and usually this type of attention peaks twice during the day. This type of attention happens while reading an article that requires critical thinking, schoolwork, or tasks at your job. In between these peaks in focused attention is rote activity, in which a person is engaged, but not challenged. This could be doing household chores such as dishes or laundry, or checking social media and emails (Mark & Mills, 2023).

    In a 2004 study, attention spans were measured by recording the time people spent on tasks before switching to another, for example, going from a Word document to checking their email. Attention spans were shown to be about two and a half minutes long. Measuring again in 2012, the study found that they had decreased to about 75 seconds. In the last five or six years, they have leveled off again, but this time at a mere 47 seconds.

    This could be perceived as an increase in the ability to multitask, but Mark does not necessarily believe that is a good thing. She explains the concept of switch cost, which is the time it takes to refocus on a new task. Additionally, there is a link between switching tasks frequently and increased stress (Mark & Mills, 2023).

    The issue could be attributed to a variety of factors, such as the rise of short-form content, meaning content that is less than ten minutes long or shorter than 1200 words. This category includes most social media posts and is more addictive compared to long-form content (Nussenbaum, 2023). Additionally, with current technology and screens everywhere, people are subject to receiving information constantly. Even more concerning, the average screen time for children ages two to four and five to eight is two and a half and three hours, respectively, which has the potential to normalize high screen usage and impair their self-control and priorities (Mark & Mills, 2023).

    Some professionals suggest lifestyle changes to maintain the healthiest attention span possible. Physical fitness has been linked to better focus, and learning a new language or instrument is a good way to practice focus and enhance your learning (Moulton, 2024).

 

Comment Below:

  • Have you noticed a decrease in focus that comes with social media usage in general? If you’ve been on the internet for a while, did it worsen with the rise of TikToks, Instagram/Facebook Reels, or even Vine?
  • Have you ever cut out social media for a time period? How long was it, and what did you notice?
  • Have you learned a new instrument or language, or started exercising more? Did you feel it affected your focus and attention span?

References:

Mark, G., & Mills, K. (2023, February 1). Speaking of Psychology: Why our attention spans are shrinking, with Gloria Mark, PhD. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/attention-spans

Moulton, C. (2024, January 23). Squirrel! why attention spans seem to be shrinking and what we can do about it. Northeastern Global News. https://news.northeastern.edu/2024/01/23/decreasing-attention-span/

Nussenbaum, T. (2023, December 14). Social media causes attention spans to drop – the standard. The Standard. https://standard.asl.org/27705/uncategorized/social-media-causes-attention-spans-to-drop/

 

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