2/2/2025
The impact of technology on the attention span
By Chloe Askinazi
Technology is negatively impacting many of our natural habits. The majority of us have experienced an important loss of memory in the past. Whether it's by forgetting to lock the door when leaving the house or losing your wallet and not being able to remember where you put it. These instances occur to about 40% of the population everyday. It has been widely reported that technology, in particular smartphones and constant internet connectivity, contributes significantly to memory issues and reduced attention spans.
In the 18th century, people presumably had longer-lasting attention spans, especially when it came to activities like reading and intellectual discussions. Without modern technological distractions like smartphones or social media, people have the time and focus to bring themselves into complex subjects. Additionally, society had a great value on intellectual development, and reading was often the number one form of hobbies and learning, enforcing the ability to focus for longer periods of time. Mark (2018) explores how technology, mainly smartphones and social media, is impacting our attention spans. She emphasizes that people today tend to switch tasks quickly, often due to constant notifications and the temptation of digital distractions. She also mentions in her interview how this frequent task-switching and multitasking can negatively affect our ability to concentrate and remember simple information. She further goes on about the idea that our attention is very complex, and modern technology is constantly putting our attention in different directions is a significant factor in this decline which is an example of a natural habit of ours that is slowly degrading which also impacts our mental health.
Some may say that technology has greatly affected us in positive ways such as education or socialization, social media has helped many people stay connected with friends and family, even across long distances. And educational resources have largely expanded throughout the years, however, many have reported experiencing feelings of stress and/or depression over the past few years. While technology has its benefits, it has also contributed to mental health issues. The constant use of social media can lead to anxiety and depression, as people often compare themselves to others online. The pressure to stay connected, along with constant notifications, has led to constant stress and burnouts. Excessive screen time, especially before bed, has been linked to sleep problems, which can make feelings of anxiety worse. Regardless of staying connected virtually, many people feel more isolated because their face-to-face interactions have decreased.
While technology can be helpful, it’s important to use it in ways that don’t negatively affect our mental health. Around 48% of people report experiencing negative impacts on their mental health due to social media, particularly among younger generations like Millennials and Gen Z, Beshay(2024). This is especially true when people feel they are not living up to the idealized lives often displayed online, creating a cycle of comparison and insecurities. Research also shows that social media addiction can lead to cognitive overload, reducing the ability to concentrate and increasing feelings of stress. Many may suggest that technology offers educational benefits, however, it is also important to maintain balance and take breaks from digital platforms to safeguard emotional well-being and also as a way to preserve our attention span.
In recent years, there has been a significant decline in the average human attention span. Hayes (2023) found that it has decreased from 12 seconds in 2000 to just 8 seconds in 2020. He also studied that between 2000 and 2015, attention spans shrank by 25%. This reduction is believed to be the result of states that humans now have shorter attention spans than goldfish, which can focus on tasks for up to 9 seconds. Moreover, the impact of shortened attention spans is obvious in everyday life: 25% of teens often forget key details about close friends and family, and 7% of people occasionally forget their own birthdays. Additionally, Hayes also suggests that 39% of Americans forget at least one basic piece of information or misplace an item every day. A wider range of facts is seen in Ward’s (2017) work focusing on the cognitive effects smartphones have on our brains, even when they are not actively being used. He also introduced the term "brain drain" to describe how just having a smartphone near us can reduce mental performances, especially in terms of attention and focus. In their study, he conducted experiments where participants had to complete tasks with their phones either in view or in the same room. The results showed that participants who had their phones within sight performed worse and had a shorter attention span compared to those who kept their phones out of sight. The closer the smartphones were, the greater the brain drained. This phenomenon suggests that smartphones do not only distract us when we are using them, but just the presence of them can drain our mental energy and make it harder to focus. If these habits of constant smartphone use continue, our attention spans could continue to decline. If this issue persists, it could lead to even shorter attention spans, potentially even less than a fly’s, which only has an attention span of about 2 seconds. Currently, humans have an average attention span of 8 seconds, but if this pattern of increasing distraction continues, we may struggle to maintain focus in ways that are even more extreme, even in the professional areas.
Technology in the workplace has made a huge difference in how people do their jobs, bringing both positive changes and some new challenges. One of the biggest problems is the constant distractions caused by digital devices. With the increase of smartphones, emails notifications, and messages, employees are frequently interrupted while being at their workspace. These constant digital interruptions make it more difficult for workers to focus and complete tasks easily. Research shows that multi-tasking, caused by these interruptions, can lower productivity and increase the mental fatigue. This means that employees spend more time trying to get back on track after each interruption, affecting the quality and speed of their work.
Technology increases stress and adds peer-pressure on workers. With the ability to access work emails and documents anytime, anywhere, many employees feel pressured to be constantly available. Employees may feel like they can never fully disconnect from their work, which can harm their mental and emotional well-being. In addition, the rise of online work, made possible by technology, has also led to isolation and loneliness for many workers. While technology allows people to work from home, it can also make face-to-face interactions less common. As a result, some employees feel disconnected from their colleagues and the workplace. This lack of social interactions can contribute to feelings of loneliness and affect mental health. An article I found shows the good and bad sides of the impacts that technology has on the workspace titled Joyce(2022) talks about the tracking softwares that many workplaces are currently using to monitor productivity, which can feel invasive and lead to concerns about privacy and trust between employees and employers. It is very mentally challenging to go to work everyday while always having technology controlling everything you do, which relates directly to how proficients our brains are in adapting to new environments.
Our brains are capable of so many things. They help us learn new skills, solve problems, think creatively, and remember important information. Every day, our brains process an enormous amount of information from the sounds we hear, to the things we see, to our own thoughts and feelings. W Small (2020) emphasizes on how important our brains are for the world and how technology is degrading it.The authors say that while digital technology has many benefits, too
much screen time and constant notifications can be harmful. Technology overload can make it harder to focus, weaken our memory, and even change the way our brains work. As we get used to the fast pace of technology, we may lose some of the focus and mental skills we naturally use in offline activities like reading or talking to others face-to-face.The article encourages us to be more mindful of how we use technology. Putting limits on screen time can help our brains stay healthy and focused. For example, we can try to avoid multitasking with devices and take breaks from screens whenever it’s possible. Doing things offline, like reading a book, going for a walk, or spending time with friends, can give our brains a chance to relax and focus more deeply, however a lot of people argue that technology is actually beneficial.
A common opinion is that technology, instead of ruining our natural habits, actually helps them. Many apps on smartphones help us with everyday life such as the clock, calendar, and notes apps on smartphones make everyday tasks easier. However if we trust technology this much in 2024, we need to consider what might happen in the future.We have inherent capabilities to make us evolve into being even stronger and smarter and by putting everything into the smartphone we are ruining our chances to evolve as human beings. Over time, as we depend more on our devices, our brains may lose the ability to process information and think for ourselves. We have natural abilities that allow us to grow, learn, and evolve and we risk weakening them. The potential issue is not technology itself but the balance of its use. A great example would be Swenson(2022), demonstrating the different perspectives of technology. It shows sides of this topic including the positive aspects and the bad aspects. As a gen z who grew up surrounded by technology, I have noticed significant impacts on my memory. I experience a lot of memory loss such as forgetting simple information which impacts both my personal and
professional life. Additionally I also have a hard time focusing especially while reading books that I am not particularly interested in or that I did not choose to read. Many people suffer from it everyday and yet it is not talked about enough.
In conclusion, while technology has for sure improved many aspects of our lives, it has also introduced significant challenges. The constant distractions, pressure to stay always connected, feelings of being alone, the significant loss of memories or attention and workplace surveillance are all negative consequences of technology that affect people’s mental health and well-being. Without proper balance and boundaries, these issues are likely to get worse, leading to a decline in both productivity and the power of the human mind.
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The study "Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces
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Why our attention spans are shrinking, with Gloria Mark, PhD. (n.d.-b).
https://www.apa.org/news/podcasts/speaking-of-psychology/attention-spans
Beshay. (2024, April 14). Teens and social media: Key findings from Pew Research Center surveys. Pew Research Center.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/24/teens-and-social-media-key-findings-from
Hayes, Adam. “The Shortening Human Attention Span .” Wyzowl, 25 Sept. 2023, www.wyzowl.com/human-attention-span/.