I don’t actually use TikTok or even the “sliding” function on youtube shorts, but I feel like my attention span has gotten much worse after they started getting popular. Even watching a 2 minute video feels dreadfully long, let alone a 10 or 20 minute video, so I end up watching a mostly short animation memes instead.
Very much, yes. Why is that?
I think it’s because we got used to surround ourselves with high-pitched stimuli. Especially the digital world is designed to catch and keep our attention. There is kind of an evolutionary pressure for these services to develop in this direction, as those who manage to anchor themselves in our habits naturally displace others who don’t. Yes, addiction is another interesting, related topic, but let’s get back to attention span.
There are things we’d like to do, which are beneficial and provide long-term rewards, but we find it’s difficult for us to concentrate on them.
Reading a book. Learning or playing an instrument. Studying, even for subjects which we find genuinely interesting. Spending time with people off-screen, talking with relatives or neighbors.
These don’t give you a kick every few seconds like an instagram feed. When scrolling through lemmy, you could find the next exciting thing at every moment! Maybe the next Tinder profile is hot, or even a match? Oh, what’s that meme?
I don’t think short videos are particularly to blame or the root cause, I rather see them as one of many symptoms. Videos have to catch our attention with their thumbnail (which is often clickbaity exaggerated for that reason), and somewhat deliver the expected excitement, else the channel goes extinct.
I found myself using my phone as a second screen when the video on the big screen fails to keep my attention (of course it’s actually me failing to focus).
Our brain gets used to what becomes our norm, lower-pitched stimuli seem less exciting in contrast. Yes, I could pick up my guitar and try to slightly improve my skills with that song, or reap the instant reward with just one more click, or just one more scroll.
There is probably no alternative for the cure. Adjust the normal pitch so that the things you actually want to do seem like a really good idea. Actively abstain from being bathed in superficially exciting content, to make room for actually rewarding activities. Or in other words, embrace boredom.