Attention Span Panic: A Tier List

A common point of contention in recent times has been the topic of decreasing attention spans. We hear almost every day both on the news and from experts in the field that attention spans are on a downward trend and TikTok with its shortform content are to blame for it. I want to put forth the argument that attention spans have always been on the decline and ask questions like: is all the outrage just sensationalization against new inventions? I also want to figure out what the actual aftermath of new technology is in regard to our attention span.

My methodology for researching and discussing this topic will be a tier list. I chose a tier list because it is a modern vehicle for ranking things against one another and it should display a linear progression while also highlighting the history and focal shifts as we continue forward. It’s also important to clarify first that how much attention we apply to a task will vary depending on what the task demand is, and the idea that there's a typical length of time for which people can pay attention to a task may be misleading. We want to monitor the effects on people’s ability to focus and retain information.

To start, we have the serialized novel (1800). This inclusion may surprise some people, but you’d be surprised to know that critics at the time thought the serialized novel was an attention span killer. People would “binge-read” novels each week the way we watch shows and were “addicted” to them. I think this is indicative of the belief that new and popular media is a negative. It also shows the mass hysteria and public fixation on demonizing one thing as a negative for society. Veronica Mathai notes that serialized fiction mirrored the binge-watching habits of modern TV and was a result of societal desires—not the cause of a decline in attention (Mathai). On the tier list I would rank the serialized novel as a D tier attention span killer.

Next, we have the radio (1920s and ’30s). The radio as an attention span killer is said to have introduced background noise into daily life. Now you didn’t just have a walk—you had a walk with music or sports commentary. No more quiet car rides where you take in the scenery and talk to the people with you. Radio sort of began the shift from focused reading to passive listening. I feel like this really signified the first step toward going too far in the quest for innovation, but it was still accepted with open arms and there was no pushback. On the tier list I would rank the radio a B tier.

Third, we have the television. This is the crucial one—the attention span killer that received the most outrage. To this day there are boomers with strong opinions about TV and believe it should’ve never been introduced. The television rewired home life to be based around entertainment. Prior to the television, the dinner table and the living room were the focal points of the house and the main function was social interaction. A memory that came to my mind while researching this was the scene in the 1996 film Matilda where the comically evil family is shown to not talk to each other, opting to instead group up and watch TV. TV also introduced the concept of flipping channels, leading to multitasking while searching for content. This concept is extremely similar to what’s known today as doomscrolling. Studies have also found links between early childhood television exposure and later issues with attention span (Christakis et al.). On the tier list I would rank the TV as an A tier attention span killer.

Next, we have the internet. Introduced in the 1990s, it is by far the most talked-about and longest-running attention span killer. The internet made it possible to access information instantly with just the click of a button. When coupled with smartphones, we have an attention span killer that combines the information of an infinite amount of novels while being a successor to the radio (background noise), and improving on the TV by making all spaces entertainment-focused. Douglas Rushkoff explores this shift in Program or Be Programmed, where he discusses how digital environments are designed for constant engagement.

The internet provides an all-in-one stop for informational, social, and entertainment needs. But in practice, we become so used to instant gratification that we obliterate any morsel of patience we have left. Andrew Fillmore discusses in his thesis how this daily exposure impacts both attention span and academic performance (Fillmore). One article even claims that the average attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8.25 seconds in 2015 (Fillmore). On the Attention Span Killer Tier List, I would rank the internet as a concept as an S tier.

Lastly, we have TikTok. TikTok is a shortform video sharing platform where people do everything from dance trends to education to gaming and comedy. Naturally, as a successor to the internet, it’s kind of your one-stop shop for personalized, rapid entertainment. Something that comes up a lot when talking about TikTok is the algorithm, which feeds users an endless stream of content tailored to their interests. This is designed to capture and hold your attention for as long as possible.

TikTok now takes up most of young people’s screen time, and it’s easy to see why. T.J. Kohler’s thesis explores the addictive nature of short-form video and its link to user-perceived attention span and mood (Kohler). TikTok is what we’ve been heading toward all these years—it’s the final boss in our quest for faster, more accessible entertainment. It would be criminal to rank TikTok as anything other than S tier.

In conclusion, we can note a trend that humanity’s inventions have taken: a slow but gradual march toward demanding our attention to possibly disastrous results. But this may not be all that it seems. The power of technology is in the hands of the people that use it. Time after time, a new invention was shunned as being a detriment to society—especially in regard to attention spans—but here we are, decades later, still in possession of our minds.

Modern technology may not be the net negative the media portrays it as, but it is in our hands to use it responsibly. Often, technology is seen as the cause of our issues, but is it also possible that it’s our own habits and actions that create the need for these technologies? I think the answer is yes. This article has been posted to Wix, and I have also included the link to the tier list with a few additional entries that would’ve been repetitive or irrelevant to include here. Tier List

Works Cited

Christakis, Dimitri A., et al. “Early Television Exposure and Subsequent Attentional Problems in Children.” Pediatrics, vol. 113, no. 4, 2004, pp. 708–713, https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.113.4.708.

Fillmore, Andrew. The Effect of Daily Internet Usage on a Short Attention Span and Academic Performance. 2015. Bachelor's thesis, Hochschule Mittweida. https://monami.hs-mittweida.de/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/7307/file/ANDREW+FILLMORE+BACHELOR.pdf.

Kohler, T. J. Caught in the Loop: The Effects of the Addictive Nature of Short-Form Videos on Users’ Perceived Attention Span and Mood. 2023. Bachelor's thesis, University of Twente. http://essay.utwente.nl/96577/.

Mathai, Veronica. “Serialized Fiction: The Rise of Bite-Sized Storytelling for Indie Authors.” Medium, 22 May 2022, https://medium.com/@VeronicaMathai/serialized-fiction-the-rise-of-bite-sized-storytelling-for-indie-authors-812c9a3a5c03.

Rushkoff, Douglas. Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age. OR Books, 2010.