It’s a by-product of social media playing on our own evolutionary traits. We are designed to seek that dopamine hit, because in the wild, it would have been rare, and it would really have only come from finding something crucial to our survival or social structure.
I think it is a feature of being over-advertised to. You don’t want to commit time to a video that isn’t what you’re looking for if you have to wait every minute for 30 seconds of ads. For text content the actual text for most online “articles” is just terrible and it’s littered with ads everywhere too. A great example (although for a different reason) are recipe websites. No one cares about the story they attach to the top so we have all been trained to skip to the bottom. Constantly having useless information thrown into our faces means we learn how to ignore what isn’t “important”. I think this has been over-trained because of the constant advertising bombardment, so now we try to determine if something is worth the attention as quickly as possible because there are so many annoying things trying to steal our attention.
I don’t feel it’s accurate. I heard a brain specialist and cognitive scientist state that our human physiology has changed very little in the last 250,000 years as far as attention span goes.
i find myself increasingly frustrated by content. the prevailing idea being ” i will assume you know nothing about the subject and spend the first hour telling THE FULL HISTORY of the subject before i present my idea.”
holy crap!….just get to the point!
the economist Richard Wolf is constantly doing this. but many of them do the same. makes it hard to sit through.
what? :p
I skimmed through a study a while back finding that consuming large amounts short form video content had a measurable impact on brain function, specifically attention span. I believe it. The advertising industry loves it.
One thing I found helps is limiting image/video based social media. I can’t imagine the challenge this poses to parents of young kids.
I will watch short content, but honestly, I prefer longer. Hour long videos? Yes, please! 1x speed? Of course! Short content pretty much demands you being glued while my longer vids I can just relax and maybe even do something on the side while I listen.
Also on the playback speeds, I think it’s wild that people can watch things on anything higher than 1x speed other than maybe a podcast if you’re behind and want to catch up. I’ve only used it on D&D podcasts where I want to get through the fighting sequences….
I’m very curious about the impact it will have on the length of movies. In a decade or so, nobody will have the ability to watch a whole 2h movie anymore.
It’s a choice. No one’s being forced to be like a junkie and sit there drooling to short form media, just like no one’s cramming fast food down your mouth.
I was born in 1982. I was already a bar going adult by 2004. I too have been affected by this attention span stuff. If I am watching a YouTube video, if it doesn’t get to the point quickly I am out. I end up watching a lot of shorts because my attention span is so short.
I imagine it’s a by product of always being connected and wanting to consume information. Sure social media plays a role too.
Teacher here. God I can see this clear as day. It’s the reason why we are implementing a phone ban soon, I see my students doing work for a few seconds only to immediately check their phones and go on Insta reels or TikTok. I also see them swiping through if it doesn’t appeal in the first few seconds. I feel awful for saying this because I remember when adults said it about my generation, but I need to be real.. It does worry me a lot
It shows how fast-paced digital life has become. With constant notifications and quick content, our brains now expect fast rewards—so focus drops quickly.
“The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.”
Comments
I think it’s – oh look, a squirrel!
Sorry, I got bored after “What are”
Can you repeat the question?
What?
TL/DR
For those interested: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/attention-spans-dropping-research-shows-165822997.html
sounds like junk science that makes a good headline and fits neatly into an ongoing moral panic but actually is meaningless nonsense
I’d like to see a caveman focus on Excel for 7.5hrs a day
I have ADHD and the world is finally catching up with me.
Thanks to Tiktok
It’s a by-product of social media playing on our own evolutionary traits. We are designed to seek that dopamine hit, because in the wild, it would have been rare, and it would really have only come from finding something crucial to our survival or social structure.
It’s genuinely not good.
COVID killed the little bit of my attention span that was left
We’ve done it to ourselves.
you’re on an app that gives you arbitrary points for how many banana lengths you scroll. are you serious
Can you point to the study you’re citing to come up with these numbers?
can someone put minecraft parkour underneath this novel of a title
i think my attention span is about 10 seconds
Can you imagine how much easier we are to be controlled? Just give people more TikTok and porn and they’ll shut up and do what they’re told.
I hate it! I find myself zoning out mid conversation all the time
Haven’t heard this and I doubt this can be tested or replicated in a meaningful way. Sounds like a buzz feed headline
I think it is a feature of being over-advertised to. You don’t want to commit time to a video that isn’t what you’re looking for if you have to wait every minute for 30 seconds of ads. For text content the actual text for most online “articles” is just terrible and it’s littered with ads everywhere too. A great example (although for a different reason) are recipe websites. No one cares about the story they attach to the top so we have all been trained to skip to the bottom. Constantly having useless information thrown into our faces means we learn how to ignore what isn’t “important”. I think this has been over-trained because of the constant advertising bombardment, so now we try to determine if something is worth the attention as quickly as possible because there are so many annoying things trying to steal our attention.
I think that the methodology behind that study was laughable enough to dismiss this data.
It’s because all the short form content and social media
We are faster by 5x?
No way it’s 47 seconds in 2025. Maybe if you include all age ranges. Between 13 and 20, I would venture to guess 4 to 10 seconds max.
I’m more concerned that so many people just accept the premise of any random social media post as fact.
I try to fight it by reading books
I would be interested in how one scientifically measures attention span. What’s the study that’s being cited here?
Dubious. Likely wrong as testing often is. Who says?
I don’t feel it’s accurate. I heard a brain specialist and cognitive scientist state that our human physiology has changed very little in the last 250,000 years as far as attention span goes.
We’re doomed
i find myself increasingly frustrated by content. the prevailing idea being ” i will assume you know nothing about the subject and spend the first hour telling THE FULL HISTORY of the subject before i present my idea.”
holy crap!….just get to the point!
the economist Richard Wolf is constantly doing this. but many of them do the same. makes it hard to sit through.
what? :p
I skimmed through a study a while back finding that consuming large amounts short form video content had a measurable impact on brain function, specifically attention span. I believe it. The advertising industry loves it.
One thing I found helps is limiting image/video based social media. I can’t imagine the challenge this poses to parents of young kids.
I will watch short content, but honestly, I prefer longer. Hour long videos? Yes, please! 1x speed? Of course! Short content pretty much demands you being glued while my longer vids I can just relax and maybe even do something on the side while I listen.
Also on the playback speeds, I think it’s wild that people can watch things on anything higher than 1x speed other than maybe a podcast if you’re behind and want to catch up. I’ve only used it on D&D podcasts where I want to get through the fighting sequences….
It sucks, I used to edit move trailers, now I edit dumb videos (for films still) but for TikTok/IG
I hate it
I’m very curious about the impact it will have on the length of movies. In a decade or so, nobody will have the ability to watch a whole 2h movie anymore.
TikTok Brainrot
My life is miserable right now so long format shit just take me out and make me remember my miserable life.
The internet is making people actively dumber and less able to think of themselves or properly process information.
I’m honestly surprised it’s as long as 47 seconds right now.
Sorry. Got distracted by fat squirrel stealing from bird feeder outside.
Citation needed
Well I’m afraid if I explain myself no one will read it now 😂
Watch any sort of media and count the amount of times it moves from scene-to-scene or camera-angle-to-camera-angle.
It’s a choice. No one’s being forced to be like a junkie and sit there drooling to short form media, just like no one’s cramming fast food down your mouth.
I have a lot to say about that one … oh, and a squirrel.
I think it directly correlates to people getting frustrated and agitated almost instantly if something isn’t meeting their expectation.
I was born in 1982. I was already a bar going adult by 2004. I too have been affected by this attention span stuff. If I am watching a YouTube video, if it doesn’t get to the point quickly I am out. I end up watching a lot of shorts because my attention span is so short.
I imagine it’s a by product of always being connected and wanting to consume information. Sure social media plays a role too.
Surprised they’re even 47 seconds long.
47 seconds is longer than I thought it would be
Teacher here. God I can see this clear as day. It’s the reason why we are implementing a phone ban soon, I see my students doing work for a few seconds only to immediately check their phones and go on Insta reels or TikTok. I also see them swiping through if it doesn’t appeal in the first few seconds. I feel awful for saying this because I remember when adults said it about my generation, but I need to be real.. It does worry me a lot
i blame tiktok
I don’t think it’s that dras- oh look! Squirrel!
i’m not even remotely surprised.
Always the damn phone
These aren’t hardcoded. They are a direct result of social media, of news delivery in sound bytes, and my ADHD.
It shows how fast-paced digital life has become. With constant notifications and quick content, our brains now expect fast rewards—so focus drops quickly.
0% surprised.
Net negative for humanity.
Well, I … Look a squirrel!!!!
Carl Sagan:
“The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.”