With the ongoing rise of social media and short form content like TikTok, there’s been a noticeable shift in people’s attention span. For many, it’s getting harder and harder to focus on tasks like school or work and there are multiple contributing factors.
“According to a study by Microsoft, our attention spans have drastically declined over the past two decades. In 2000, the average attention span was 12 seconds. By 2015, it had dropped to 8 seconds, and by 2022, it plummeted to a mere 5 seconds,” said an article by beataklamar.com titled “Why We Can’t Focus: Attention Span in Decline.”
Disorders like attention deficit and autism can affect the ability to focus but there are more controllable variables. Social media overconsumption has been shown to be another negative contributor to attention span due to consistent access. Transitioning to constant social media use to a school day without phones is difficult and negatively affects students’ focusing abilities.
“When I’m in class it’s for me to not think about or go on my phone when I’m used to being on it all day regularly,” sophomore Sky York said.
“Endless algorithmic content makes it increasingly difficult for students at school to stay focused and on task, as they aren’t accustomed to such intense levels of concentration.” said an article by Tessa Nussenbaum titled “Social media causes attention spans to drop”
Solutions are vast but won’t be easy. Taking designated breaks from your phone will help with staying off of it in the long run, getting good sleep helps drastically as well. Getting outside and spending time with friends makes it much easier to stay off your phone and be in the moment. Phones are a big contributor to decreasing attention span but there are ways to recognize it, and learn to fix it.
