Emily Nguyen Week 15: Attention Span
Attention Span
It is normal for attention and memory to gradually decline as we age. However with recent app developments and a surge in social media use, especially with TikTok, it has become difficult for users to even watch several minute long videos, let alone movies. These short form videos catering to young audiences are as excellent of a marketing strategy as they are detrimental. When scrolling through the app, I would often find myself skipping through the three-minute long videos simply because they were too long. I've gone three weeks clean without relapsing after deleting the app, but its effects are lasting.
https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/asian-child-little-girl-playing-260nw-1561694239.jpg
Sources:
https://www.midiaresearch.com/blog/why-short-form-content-resonates-with-younger-generations
https://www.iabuk.com/opinions/rise-short-form-video-gen-z-social-
revolution#:~:text=Gen%20Z%20typically%20have%20an,in%20at%20approximately%2012%20seconds.
I definitely see my attention span decreasing over the years since the advent of social media. I applaud you in deleting Tik Tok, especially this close to AP exams, and I hope that you can continue to refrain from allowing distractions to slowly lessen your attention span. Hopefully we do not all end up as impatient people in the future.
ReplyDeleteHello Emily, good job in deleting Tik Tok! After getting on self-improvement, I have become more aware of how I use social media. Social media is a powerful tool for me because I can convey information to over four-hundred people with just a click of a button. I normally avoid social media unless it is a special occasion and do not scroll through people’s stories or posts. I usually just download Instagram if I need to contact someone I do not know personally or whose number I do not have. Try deleting Instagram next and use YouTube only for learning and see how that affects you.
ReplyDeleteWith AP testing, I know a lot of people who are deleting Instagram and Tik Tok to focus solely on studying and I do think it helps a lot when the option to get distracted isn't even there. However, I found it really shocking that the attention span of a person is only 8 seconds because even though I do get distracted really easily, there are also a lot of times when I'll get super focused and I'll be able to focus on one thing for a solid hour or two. I know how you feel about it getting worse with younger generations too because even now, my younger sister has pretty much every type of social media that I didn't have until I was around 3 or 4 years older than her. Social media used to only be a teenager thing and it was bad enough, I can't imagine how much worse it's going to be for the new generations that become addicted to phones before they enter double digits.
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ReplyDeleteHey Emily,
ReplyDeleteOnce they are hooked, there is no going back. Electronics can become seriously addictive. Addiction, relapses, withdrawals—they have all become too familiar in our generation whether we acknowledge it or not. Once I hid the iPad for four hours on the weekend and my brother nearly exploded. I had to resend this comment just to let you know that he is 9! He looked like he could not breathe without playing Roblox and listening to random songs being played at twice the speed every time the word “the” was said. After three hours he began to settle down and find other quiet things to do, but the moment he saw the screen again, he was gone. He hears nothing, sees nothing, remembers nothing. I never thought of this affecting his short-term memory, but it certainly is leading him to having a hunch-back. Your blog has encouraged me to take a few minutes out of every day to just recollect moments of my day and prompt my brother to talk to me about his day too.
Hi Emily! I’m reading your blog the same day I watched The Social Network in my Computer Science Principles class. Quite literally the message of that movie/documentary is that technology is ruining our lives in terms of attention span, memory, and values. It’s not good what social media and technology is doing to us, yet we can’t stop. I think for now, my plan of action is to (as you said) limit my social media usage by either deleting the app or setting time limits. Also, as we have seen these past few weeks, I will take part in some of the memory-improving activities that our peers have written about.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily! I must say, my attention span has been significantly decreasing as the quality and accessibility of electronics has increased. Recently I started using focus apps to help me study for longer periods of time. I also noticed that if I shut down my phone or put it out of my range, I will forget about it and be able to focus longer. Now, I sometimes even lose my focus because of Spotify!
ReplyDeleteHi Emily! I honestly agree and I’ve learned this the hard way. Once you get onto an electronic device, even if you constantly tell yourself that you’ll only be on for 5 minutes, it's a fact that it’s just not possible. They get addicting and once you get hooked onto one app, you won’t get off. I remember one day, I had so much work but just didn’t feel like doing it once I got home. I decided to relax and watch something for “30 minutes” and well, you know how that went. I stayed up almost the entire night having to do all the homework that was due and the stress that put on me felt horrible. I definitely learned from that day, but at the end of the day, it’s more than just the fact that it’s addicting. It affects your memory as well and so we need to limit ourselves and just take that time after we are done with our work as well.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily, I've also seen my attention span decrease over time. People that are exposed to devices from a really young age—most babies these days—might find it harder to learn or pay attention in school. It is interesting to see how educators will have to shift their strategies to better appeal to students with shorter attention spans due to the many distractions we have these days.
ReplyDeleteHi Emily, I really agree with your blog. Thank you for pointing all of this out. I never knew Gen Z only has an 8 second attention span, which is horribly low, but it does sound accurate. I’m thinking of my brother who is in 8th grade and how much gaming he does. And, when he’s not gaming, he’s on youtube, and when he’s not on youtube, he’s on discord. He gets bored really fast, much to my parents’ dismay. Technology has really changed how we go to school, learn, and interact with each other, as well as how long we can sit still and keep our minds focused on something. We’ve become masters in distraction.
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