Download overload?

Gemma reaches for her phone and starts to read an article about Ukraine. But after one paragraph she decides she will just check the weather for her Italian holiday. Then an ad pops up for a really cool pair of trainers. She is about to buy them when a text arrives; "Have you seen the photo Kim just posted??" So she opens Instagram...

"Our attention spans while on our computers and smartphones have become short - crazily short," writes Dr Gloria Mark in her book Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity.

In 2004 she did a study of office workers, timing them as they switched from one tab or app to another on their computers. The average time between switches was two and a half minutes.

In 2012 she repeated the experiment - and found that the average had dropped to 75 seconds. Now, she says, it is down to just 47. And according to another expert, Professor Maryanne Wolf, "many people have lost the ability to really immerse themselves".

"We have developed a cognitive impatience about our reading."

"Screens are designed to make us read very quickly," she explains: "to scan, skim and scroll. As a result, we don't give the text our full attention and are more apt to miss information."

Before the internet, when only printed books and newspapers were available, people tended to read more slowly - "in part because we were more likely to go back and double-check what we just read".

"That extra time lent itself to sophisticated mental processes like critical analysis, inferenceMaking conclusions based on evidence and reasoning. , deduction and empathyThe capacity to understand and feel the suffering of others.."

The there is the distraction of notifications - the noises from your phone telling you that a text or email has arrived. "Because our brains are evolutionarily designed to pay attention to novelty, these alerts are almost impossible to ignore," writes Dana G Smith in The New York Times.

There are, however, ways of fighting back. One is "deep reading": putting your phone on silent for at least 20 minutes a day while you read a physical book.

Another is a "tech break." You start by setting an alarm for 15 minutes and silencing your phone. When the alarm goes off, you are allowed one or two minutes to check your phone before repeating the process.

The idea is to extend the time you keep your phone on silent gradually to 30 or 45 minutes. You should eventually reach the point where you do not check it as soon as you are allowed to.

According to marketing expert Michael Pankowski,¹ feeling overwhelmed online has made people nostalgicFeeling happy but also slightly sad about a past time which is no longer happening. for life before the internet - even ones who are too young to know what it was like.

This yearning for a simpler world has resulted in a fascination with old technology, such as vinyl records and PolaroidA small camera that can take, develop and print a photograph in just a few seconds. cameras, and a shared passion for old TV series such as Friends.

"The common thread in youth nostalgia is that it fosters a sense of belonging," writes Hilary Hoffower in Insider. "Nostalgia helps us strengthen relationships through shared experiences."

Yes: People had real lives rather than virtual ones. Vital services were not open to cyber attacks. There was no FOMOFear of missing out. , easily spread fake news, Twitter squabbling, mass surveillance or online bullying.

No: Everything is quicker and easier today, from shopping to banking to gathering information. You can talk to a friend on the other side of the world for free, and enjoy the fun of social media.   

Or... At the moment there is a reasonable balance between the advantages and disadvantages of the internet. But the coming of 5GFifth generation mobile broadband. This is the latest broadband technology for mobile phones, and is estimated to be many times faster than the current 4G. and the internet of thingsThe 5G system is expected to transform the internet, allowing multiple devices to connect with each other. For example, a driverless car will be able to pick up traffic reports and change its route for a faster one. could change that drastically.