Social Media and the Effect on Our Attention Span
Social media has emerged as the dominant platform in a modern age where information spreads rapidly, transforming how people communicate, consume, and share content. Social media platforms have been ingrained into our daily lives due to their ever-expanding reach and attraction that seems to have no end. However, as our digital connectivity grows, a worrying trend manifests itself. Our attention spans are getting shorter.
It starts to make sense when looking at the effects of social media in our daily lives. This essay examines the persuasive case that social media is the main cause of the decline in our capacity to sustain attention and considers the effects that this phenomenon may have on both individuals and society.
Dr. Gloria Mark, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, took it into her own hands to see how social media affects our lives. Mark’s decades of research have led to significant findings on our ability to focus. Her research showed that in 2004 the average attention to a screen was measured to be 2 and a half minutes, years later it declined to 75 seconds, and in the present day, it’s been found that this number has dropped yet again to 45 seconds.¹
In a podcast episode “Speaking of Psychology: Why our attention spans are Shrinking”, Dr. Mark offers her opinion on the causes of our decline in focus and that social media and technology play a vital role in this phenomenon. She explains that the constant stimulation that we receive from social media platforms, paired with the constant influx of information in our daily lives affects our brain's ability to maintain focus over a long period of time.²
Social media’s natural ability to provide quick gratification and never-ending stimulation is one of its key characteristics. The addictive qualities of these platforms are reinforced by the dopamine-inducing rewards provided by likes, comments, and notifications. We are so accustomed to the instant sensations of gratification and stimulation that anything that doesn't stimulate us quickly is considered less desirable and boring. We constantly crave novelty and develop the struggle of sustained focus in offline settings.
These sensations are also purposefully engineered by social media companies to keep us on their platforms as it is in their interest to decrease our attention spans and have their platform be the solution to the problem they create. Social media sites’ layouts and features are made to grab our attention and encourage quick material consumption. Infinite scrolling, autoplay videos, and algorithmic suggestions are features that keep us immersed in a never-ending cycle of stimuli while optimizing for engagement numbers rather than promoting critical thought in users. Our capacity to focus, reflect, and engage in sustained intellectual activities is hampered by this constant consumption of bite-sized content.
A time of unprecedented data abundance and the emergence of social media go hand in hand. We have instant access to an absurd amount of information, entertainment, and social interaction in our digital world with only a click. However, the large amount of information may be too much for our brains to handle, which may result in cognitive fatigue and information overload. As a result, we lose the ability to fully interact with content, deeply analyze it, and comprehend complicated ideas in a nuanced way. Along with this, the seemingly infinite amount of information we have access to online with the click of a button gives us almost no real purpose to gain information through traditional methods, such as from books. Why read an entire book when you can look up the summary in just a few minutes?
In 2015, Microsoft Canada’s research team claimed that the human attention span has decreased to 8 seconds, similar to the attention span of goldfish.³ Though this was later debunked and became a common myth, it still reflects some of the concerns regarding our modern-day attention spans.⁴
According to studies by Kings College London, 49% of the UK public believe their attention span is shorter than what it used to be, while only 23% of people disagree with this. The number rises to 66% of people believe a shortening of attention span when it comes to the younger generations, those affected most by social media.⁵ Many people also significantly underestimate how much we use our phones in our daily lives with the UK public responding that they believe they pick up their smartphone an average of 25 times a day, yet studies show that the average is closer to 80 in reality.⁶
Professor Bobby Duffy, Director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London:
“This no doubt adds to the very clear sense among the public that attention spans are short, and getting shorter, with tech to blame — despite there being no real evidence that this is the case. Half of us believe the claim that adults today only have an eight-second attention span, even though this has been thoroughly debunked — the myth has stuck with many of us, partly because it still gets repeated so much.”⁷
It’s difficult to measure this kind of phenomenon and hard to prove with concrete evidence. However, debatably, the more important question on this topic is whether or not our dwindling attention spans and social media are something to be concerned about in the first place. Sophia Hsu in her article on The Standard claims that there is a negative effect, especially on students in regard to their academic performance. She explains that a cycle is created as students will choose to spend more time on social media platforms in desire of the instant stimulation it provides, which in turn takes time away from them completing schoolwork, resulting in worsened academic performance over time. Then these academic problems only encourage students further to look towards social media for a dopamine rush to feel better about their poor performance.⁸ Along with this, she mentions that personal relationships are affected as people spend more time interacting online, much of which is considered superficial, rather than in person.
Studies from the American Journal of Preventative Medicine claim that social media usage has a direct correlation with perceived social isolation, which has substantial associations with morbidity and mortality.⁹ It suggests that those with higher social media usage are more likely to be suffering from depression, self-harm, and suicide among young American adults.
However, in the UK, statistics show that there are 4 different groups with very distinct views and opinions on social media and technology. The largest group consisting of 42% of the population are “positive multi-screeners” who are highly engaged users, mostly aware of the attention span concerns but believe that the abundance of information available online and the interconnectivity that social media provides is hugely beneficial to society.¹⁰ Another group, 21% of the population, the “stressed tech addicts” think attention spans are the greatest concern but also are able to see the benefits of social media and technology.¹¹ The “overloaded skeptics”, 21% of the population, think very negatively about the trends in technology and what the future holds.¹² Then the final group, 17% of the population, see no difference in attention spans and expressed no concerns about it.¹³
Despite studies trying to show the effects of social media on our attention span, there is no real concrete evidence or measurement to ensure this fact. However, all the signs point toward the fact that it holds some truth. If so, it does have negative impacts on our lives in terms of our lives, personal relationships, and even academics. It is tricky to determine whether or not social media and technology are objectively detrimental to society as there are a lot of benefits that come along with it. This is seen by how different people have differing opinions on the matter. One thing we know for sure is that the concerns over social media and our attention spans are definitely necessary to keep in mind as we progress further into the digital age.
Endnotes
- Sophia Hsu, “Attention Spans Dwindle Due to Social Media Use,” The Standard, May 2, 2023, https://standard.asl.org/22338/opinions/attention-spans-dwindle-due-to-social-media-use/ [no pagination].
- Kim Mills, “Speaking of Psychology: Why Our Attention Spans Are Shrinking, with Gloria Mark, PhD,” episode, Speaking of Psychology, accessed June 28, 2023, https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/attention-spans.
- Alyson Gausby, 2015, Attention Spans [Slideshow], Consumer Insights Microsoft Canada
- Simon Maybin, “Busting the Attention Span Myth,” BBC News, March 10, 2017, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38896790, [no pagination].
- King’s College London, “Are Attention Spans Really Collapsing? Data Shows UK Public Are Worried — but Also See Benefits from Technology,” King’s College London, February 17, 2022, https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/are-attention-spans-really-collapsing-data-shows-uk-public-are-worried-but-also-see-benefits-from-technology. [no pagination]
- King’s College London, [no pagination].
- King’s College London, [no pagination].
- Sophia Hsu, [no pagination].
- Brian A. Primack et al., “Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation among Young Adults in the U.S.,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 53, no. 1 (March 6, 2017): 1–8, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2017.01.010.
- King’s College London, [no pagination].
- King’s College London, [no pagination].
- King’s College London, [no pagination].
- King’s College London, [no pagination].
Bibliography
Gausby Alyson, 2015, Attention Spans [Slideshow], Consumer Insights Microsoft Canada. https://dl.motamem.org/microsoft-attention-spans-research-report.pdf
Hsu, Sophia. “Attention Spans Dwindle Due to Social Media Use.” The Standard, May 2, 2023. https://standard.asl.org/22338/opinions/attention-spans-dwindle-due-to-social-media-use/
King’s College London. “Are Attention Spans Really Collapsing? Data Shows UK Public Are Worried — but Also See Benefits from Technology.” King’s College London, February 17, 2022. https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/are-attention-spans-really-collapsing-data-shows-uk-public-are-worried-but-also-see-benefits-from-technology.
Maybin, Simon. “Busting the Attention Span Myth.” BBC News, March 10, 2017. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-38896790.
Mills, Kim. “Speaking of Psychology: Why Our Attention Spans Are Shrinking, with Gloria Mark, PhD.” Episode. Speaking of Psychology no. 225. Accessed June 28, 2023. https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/attention-spans.
Primack, Brian A., Ariel Shensa, Jaime E. Sidani, Erin O. Whaite, Liu yi Lin, Daniel Rosen, Jason B. Colditz, Ana Radovic, and Elizabeth Miller. “Social Media Use and Perceived Social Isolation among Young Adults in the U.S.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 53, no. 1 (March 6, 2017): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2017.01.010.
Quit social media | Dr. Cal Newport | TEDxTysons. YouTube. YouTube, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E7hkPZ-HTk&ab_channel=TEDxTalks.