Are attention spans actually shortening?
Are attention spans actually shortening?
So a view I see a lot nowadays is that attention spans are getting shorter, especially when it comes to younger generations. And the growing success of short form content on Tiktok, Youtube and Twitter for example seems to support this claim. I have a friend in their early 20s who regularly checks their phone (sometimes scrolling Tiktok content) as we're watching a film. And an older colleague recently was pleased to see me reading a book, because he felt that anyone my age and younger was less likely to want to invest the time in reading.
But is this actually true on the whole? Does social media like Tiktok really mould our interests and alter our attention? In some respects I can see how it could change our expectations. If we've come to expect a webpage to load in seconds, it can be frustrating when we have to wait minutes. But to someone that was raised with dial-up, perhaps that wouldn't be as much of an issue. In the same way, if a piece of media doesn't capture someone in the first few minutes they may be more inclined to lose focus because they're so used to quick dopamine hits from short form content. Alternatively, maybe this whole argument is just a 'kids these days' fallacy. Obviously there are plenty of young adults that buck this trend.
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Mine certainly is.
If you want to compare your attention span to what it once was, try watching older media. The wife and I were watching the walking dead and I was getting bored and that's only 10 years old. Try watching 2001: A Space Odyssey without any distractions. It's torture.
Ok well 2001 was kind of an outlier... you're not wrong. It was slow when I watched it in the 90s lol.
But, watch something like The Maltese Falcon. Which I did recently.
I had no issue following. It didn't plod along in my view (of course I'm middle aged and don't do tiktok). But it also wasn't rapid fire constant clamor. There was space to absorb and reflect as the story evolved. And you need that space because it's mentally challenging.
One thing that hit hard is how it is a good, interesting story above all else. Definitely gives theater vibes and made me realize how hollow a lot of movies are.
Anyway. There are lots of examples from the 60s and 70s that are slower paced and a lot less busy and chaotic than modern films for sure.
An older film I really recommend is Twelve Angry Men. No special effects or camera work. Just twelve jurors in a room discussing a murder case - and I was hooked throughout! Perfectly paced.
I've been meaning to watch that one.
Yeah but there are also modern films and TV shows that could be considered "slow" and are fantastic. There's more media in general, and a larger portion is definitely catered to short attention spans, but there's still some great, "slow", shit.
2001 is fucking stellar and I can easily watch it all in one sitting. It’s a banger. I’m mid30s though and also don’t do social media, just forums.
“Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles”… I want to know how many kids can get through that these days.
Did you try watching a good show though?
The Walking Dead was a decent show when it started, but it went off the rails pretty quickly. Many hated the second season, especially, but personally, I prefer this slower-paced storytelling. In fact, the thing I don't like in the new episodes is how they're filled with action and unnecessary combat scenes, probably to hold onto the younger generation without an attention span.
Well, I don't know about you, but I'll still sit down to a marathon of LOTR extended edition. So, mine is maybe about the same as 20 years ago. Maybe not though because LOTR could be an exception because it's the GOAT.
Oh, man, LotR is the exception to the rule. I can definitely still enjoy a 12 hour journey to Mordor.
That's a bummer. There are so many great older films out there that you're missing out on. Some of the best media ever created.
Tbh I found the walking dead kind of boring after the first season. There is only so much you can do in a very specific setting before you start falling into a lot of tropes. It got to a point where I started paying too much attention to the wrong things. For example, if I was in a zombified world, I don't think that staying clean shaven from neck to toe would be a priority lol.
No hate to anyone who enjoys it though, you do you. I'm almost certain that I enjoy something that you find boring.