Have we lost the ability to pay attention? More and more people say they constantly feel distracted, restless and bored. Doctors and scientists think social media is to blame.
Alarm over TikTok's effect on mental health
Have we lost the ability to pay attention? More and more people say they constantly feel distracted, restless and bored. Doctors and scientists think social media is to blame.
Not in focus
In the 11th Century, a movement called SufismA mystical Islamic belief and practice. developed in Islam. Its practitioners listen to music and hymns until they enter a trance-like state in which they can communicate directly with God. Some, known as the "whirling dervishesSufi whirling is a form of physically active meditation. Some say spinning in circles is imitation of planets orbiting the sun. ", reach this state by spinning in circles as they meditate, sometimes for hours.
Today, the concentration needed for such a feat seems impossible to many. It is common to hear people complain that they no longer have any attention span.
This might seem like an unimportant issue compared with the other challenges posed to us by the modern world: the climate crisis, war in Ukraine.
But experts say it prevents us from concentrating on these same problems. A crisis occurs, we talk about it for a few days, and then we forget about it. We cannot invest any time and effort in discussing solutions.
We can even measure the loss of our ability to focus on important issues. In 2013, a global trend on Twitter would last 17.5 hours on average. By 2016, this had dropped to just 11.9 hours.1
And it can be fatal for our work. It is estimated that every time we get distracted, it takes us 25 minutes to return to our task. This has been linked with a 50% drop in productivity.2
Scientists say the culprit is information overload. Every day we are bombarded with information from hundreds of sources: phones, laptops, TVs - and most of all, social media.
This is not a bug of social media: it is a feature. Social media companies make their money by selling our data to advertisers. The more we do on their sites, the more data we produce.
That is why the classic elements of social media sites are designed to be addictive, like pulling down at the top of the screen to refresh the feed. Insiders say this is the equivalent of pulling the lever of a slot machineAlso known as a fruit machine. A type of gambling machine based on chance. in a casino.
This is because the brain is attracted to unpredictability. And if it likes what it sees, it releases dopamineA hormone and neurotransmitter that plays several important roles in the brain and body, providing us with positive sensations, rewarding us for evolutionarily good behaviours like eating food., encouraging us to do the same thing again in hope of the same reward.3
Experts warn that among the addictive social media apps, TikTok is king. Its aim is to keep you on the platform for as many minutes, hours and days as it can manage. And when we spend our lives consuming 30-second videos, we can lose the ability to focus on anything else.
Yes: Research suggests that we now spend our days in a state of constant distraction. We cannot apply ourselves to anything and this makes us bored, frustrated and overstimulated.
No: People still love films, they binge TV series, and novels are as popular as ever. We can still focus properly as long as we give ourselves breaks from social media.
Or... If our attention spans are shorter, social media is not solely to blame. People are more likely to look for distractions if they are already unhappy or depressed. Social media is a symptom, not a cause, of the mental health crisis.
Have we lost the ability to pay attention?
Keywords
Sufism - A mystical Islamic belief and practice.
Whirling dervishes - Sufi whirling is a form of physically active meditation. Some say spinning in circles is imitation of planets orbiting the sun.
Slot machine - Also known as a fruit machine. A type of gambling machine based on chance.
Dopamine - A hormone and neurotransmitter that plays several important roles in the brain and body, providing us with positive sensations, rewarding us for evolutionarily good behaviours like eating food.
Alarm over TikTok’s effect on mental health
Glossary
Sufism - A mystical Islamic belief and practice.
Whirling dervishes - Sufi whirling is a form of physically active meditation. Some say spinning in circles is imitation of planets orbiting the sun.
Slot machine - Also known as a fruit machine. A type of gambling machine based on chance.
Dopamine - A hormone and neurotransmitter that plays several important roles in the brain and body, providing us with positive sensations, rewarding us for evolutionarily good behaviours like eating food.