Introduction
Attention span is the duration one spends focusing on a task before being distracted. The distraction occurs when the consciousness is diverted to another sensation. Social media has currently taken over the attention span of most of its users through instant gratification, thus affecting their brains. The use of media platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, Reels, and Twitter, has highly influenced many individuals’ lives. Information about trends and other news is obtained from the internet and summarized by other people.
Unfortunately, many of the victims are young people who are still learning. Students, in particular, are the most affected, thus diminishing the efficacy of valuable and retainable education. Increased use of social media has distracted many users easily, exposing them to mental health and psychological distress. However, some ways have been improvised to boost the concentration rate and restore sanity among the users.
Harmful Influence of Social Media on Mental Health
Reduced Attention Span and Dopamine Addiction
Most psychologists and educators acknowledge that concentrating and sustaining attention is critical for someone to achieve their goals (Mohamad). Students are trained to remain attentive and focus on a topic of discussion or observation for extended periods. In the process, it helps them develop listening and analytical skills. The internet has generally changed to attentiveness period in class and other places.
It has also altered human psychology, affecting memory and sleep cycles (Kennedy). The impacts have resulted in neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change its behavior based on new experiences. Internet addiction is dangerous and can lead to other habits that include alcohol and drug abuse. Misuse of social media platforms may cause the development of neural patterning and brain chemistry due to substance dependence (Curtin University). Disorders that are caused by technology habits are similar to those that are triggered by cannabis and alcohol.
Social media is shortening the attention span of people generally in society. Nowadays, reading a 15-page article is becoming a challenge to many people. Concentration has become a massive task because many people need help to focus or read it thoroughly. Listening, completing school assignments, or concentrating on books is difficult. In earlier days, young people used to read many books, but currently, the number of children who are interested in reading has declined. This is due to the increased social media usage that has been dependent on news trends (Kies 26).
The inability to focus on reading articles is creeping into other aspects of life. This might include a slow scene in a movie or waiting for food to heat in a microwave. Social media checking has become a voluntary response to boredom moments. People use laptops, phones, and other technological devices to condition their every waking time. This usage shortens their tolerance for things that do not involve immediate gratification.
Excessive use of social media is dangerous to the health of users. It can affect a hormone in the human brain called dopamine. Dopamine helps in various functions involving motivation and reward. Some social media platforms, including Snapchat, Instagram, and Tinder, quickly contain this natural happiness drug. For instance, every post that requires the viewers or readers to follow, like, or simple notification releases a small amount of euphoria, thus reinforcing the brain to seek pleasure (Mohamad). The entire population who uses the internet has become addicts of dopamine fed to them by mobile phones.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
There are psychological disorders that are associated with too much use of social media. This can include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which most likely affects children and can persist to adulthood. It may contribute to low self-esteem, thus causing troubled relationships. It can also result in difficulties when performing daily routine tasks at school or the workplace. The symptoms may involve hyperactivity or limited attention, leading to uncompleted assignments (Curtin University). The students cannot do their activities as per their tutors’ expectations without getting distracted.
When the ADHD problem persists to adulthood, some symptoms may accompany the disorder. These signs include disorganization or work when one has several tasks. Depending on the importance, they may need help prioritizing which work to handle first (Ronald 1247). Due to low attention spans, they may need better time management skills, thus leading to a mess in the whole job assigned. It might be problematic to complete the work because they need help focusing on a task. Trouble multitasking can result in untidiness and confusion, and they perform poorly.
People diagnosed with ADHD are restless and excessively active for nothing (Ronald 1247). They are poor planners and cannot hold managerial positions in an organization because they cannot organize a team effectively. Their frequent mood swings do not allow them to take leadership roles since dealing with different personalities is highly required as part of the skill. Being a leader calls for tolerance, which might be hard for them to balance due to their condition.
Low concentration levels due to ADHD can make life difficult for someone. It can lead to school work performance, which translates into low-income opportunities later in life. It can result in unemployment because an individual is incompetent and cannot complete tasks.
Mohamad states that “Technological addiction may be led to another risk factor for alcohol and other drug abuse” (para. 8). This can be linked to financial problems because the failure to work makes one lack money for their livelihood. They have trouble with the law because of a lack of jobs, which can cause them to engage in criminal activities. There is a poor self-image, and some people may find themselves useless in society, leading to suicidal attempts (Ronald 1250). They may also get involved in substance abuse, frequent accidents in areas they happen to participate, unstable relationships, and mental and physical health problems.
Fear of Missing Out on Something
The world is currently surrounded by bits of content and information. More than time is needed to watch and read anything. It has become almost impossible to avoid interruption while performing other activities with the internet explosion. The danger of this distraction is that it leads to the next and the next one to another new one (Mohamad). Eventually, it causes addiction, and one may stop doing the primary duty or responsibility assigned to them, leading to a mess and poor productivity.
The effects of social media attention span include Fear of Missing Out on Something (FOMO) important on social media. Many users of social media platforms constantly need to check out social networks to find out if their friends have posted anything new. They also have to check if their posts have been viewed and the number of likes and comments from their followers.
They also look for trends in terms of fashion because they want to make sure to notice the news and the inclinations. They lack focus, and they struggle to concentrate for a long time. Most internet handlers may need help with their browsing process (Cinelli et al. 2). It is easy for them to start clicking over the network, and they sometimes need to remember the reason behind opening a particular website. Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube might be the cause of non-performance. Short videos in TikTok and reels are addictive and may make one forget what they need on the internet.
Brain Wandering and Multitasking
People who use social media excessively are likely to suffer from brain wandering (Hasenkamp and Barsalou 38). This condition may lead to procrastination, which sounds simple but is difficult to prevent once someone becomes an addict. When one learns that they have a short attention span, they invent new ways of dealing with the situation to increase productivity (Bradbury 510). It causes a new type of becoming effective, which may be advantageous to the company they work for but dangerous to their health, and increased productivity results in faster reactions and working reports.
According to Mohamad, many people suffer from multiple-tab syndrome and find working with one open tab challenging. He says, “Heavy multi-screeners find it difficult to filter out irrelevant stimuli — they are more easily distracted by multiple streams of media” (Mohamad para. 17). Thus, a person may develop anxiety when operating only one account, and they do not feel like obtaining complete information.
Dealing with the Effects of Social Media Use
Negative impacts associated with attention span due to social media cause affect the human brain in different ways. This lifestyle has led to multitasking skills, making it hard to focus on a single task. This aspect is supported by Kennedy, who states, “Some of the factors that influence brain development in adolescents include areas of well-being impacted by social media like sleeping patterns, psychological health, and mental health” (16).
The brain has developed a new ability to juggle from one activity to another in seconds. The urge to check newsfeeds on social media platforms is uncontrollable (Mohamad). For instance, on Facebook, people keep refreshing the stories for no apparent reason, even when they are busy with something else. There is a constant need to check emails, thus creating an anticipation feeling. This impulse is present even when one is not expecting an important email. The case is worse when an individual realizes that they are checking emails on the weekend or over the holiday after every half an hour.
On the positive side, social media has had significant impacts. For instance, smartphone addiction has highly contributed to digital dependency and short attention spans. Although they have improved the lives of so many people in different ways, they have still created a new type of enslavement that does not allow mobile phone owners to leave their hands for a few minutes. Telephones have affected users because one cannot focus on a single screen. Nowadays, it has become so easy to check Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp, and other social platforms through phones while working on a laptop. Many must realize how fast they switch from one screen to another (Bradbury 512).
Attention is critical for individuals who need working memory, whether adults or minors. If good attention is paid when performing a specific task, they may feed the correct information, thus providing an actual outcome or accurate results. It requires emotional intelligence to create self-awareness of one’s mind and emotions (Bradbury 512). Empathy is also an essential qualification that can be cultivated by sharpening attention skills.
With the information from the internet, the human brain cannot retain every detail it processes. According to Hasenkamp and Barsalou (38), social media can cause shorter memory. Mohamad adds that “People who are online an average of 5 hours a day have suffered remembering people’s names” (para.7). Technological devices, including smartphones, may serve as reminders, calendars, notebooks, and everything one needs to remember. All that is required is to google any question they may have and get the answer from the social platforms. However, the brain has learned to function inversely under different situations (Kennedy). It becomes hard to distinguish useful information from useless, making people unintentionally forget crucial details. It can further lead to a lack of concentration and a shorter attention span, thus causing accidents.
My plan regarding the issue of non-concentration is to invent other ways of breaking the monotony. I encourage teachers to adopt storytelling in the middle of their lessons. I can advocate for tutors or anyone addressing to have their speeches, in brief, engage electronic devices and use images and graphics.
Storytelling is a way of communicating ideas and restoring the ability of the brain to pay attention to something (Mohamad). In the early days, older people, including parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, used to tell stories to young children. This developed the youngsters’ listening skills, hence becoming increasingly imperative. According to Zachos et al. (194), a “possible positive contribution of social networks to students’ lives is the apparent upgrading of their cognitive behavior.” Therefore, the narration of tales keeps the listener focused and can upgrade the concentration capacity.
The narration of tales can change complex thoughts into easy ones, making abstract language understandable. “Fortunately, there are now many sources to help teachers improve the quality of lectures and move the lecture beyond merely conveying information” (Bradbury 510 para. 14). Thus, teachers should adopt the new way of teaching to increase attention span. The millennial generation has been highly influenced by fast-changing technology and the internet (Zachos 194). A majority of them are addicts and are unable to balance social media use and learning. The incorporation of social media platforms and academic programs should be considered to cope with technological change.
Additionally, I suggest turning off unnecessary notifications from the apps. It helps to minimize unwanted interruptions and forces one to attend to one issue. Everyone feels strongly compelled to check their devices at every ring or buzz. Setting notification boundaries takes away curiosity, and one is not tempted to look for updates. I need to set specific times to check messages on social platforms. These practices help students focus during lectures and pay attention longer (Deitchman). People with short attention spans due to social media apps should change their daily routine of looking at their phones before they sleep and instead read books or listen to music.
Conclusion
In conclusion, social media’s impact on people’s lives, particularly millennials, has shaped life patterns. Several people have developed the habit of concentrating less and non-focusing on essential matters. The use of smartphones, laptops, and other technological devices has influenced and addicted most users, making it difficult for them to complete a task without getting interrupted.
Chronic disorders are also linked to prolonged use of social media platforms. Social broadcasting podia, including Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram, have contributed to the short attention span of many lives. Videos that run for a few minutes have made many minds design themselves so they can only concentrate on a task for a short time. It is vital to have self-discipline and set time for screen time because this will help resolve the short concentration span. School programs can incorporate social platforms to teach and demonstrate their experiments to help the addicts of the internet as they undergo the therapy of adopting other ways of increasing their concentration rate.
Works Cited
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Cinelli, Matteo, et al. “The Echo Chamber Effect on Social Media.” Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences, vol. 118, no. 9, 2021, p. 1-8.
Curtin University. “Short Attention Spans Linked to Social Media Distress.” News, Web.
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Hasenkamp, Wendy, and Lawrence W. Barsalou. “Effects of Meditation Experience on Functional Connectivity of Distributed Brain Networks.” Frontiers In Human Neuroscience, vol. 6, 2012, p. 38.
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Ronald, Angelica, Nora de Bode, and Tinca JC Polderman. “Systematic Review: How the Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Polygenic Risk Score Adds To Our Understanding of ADHD and Associated Traits.” Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, vol. 60, no. 10, 2021, pp. 1234-1277.
Zachos, Georgios, Efrosyni-Alkisti Paraskevopoulou-Kollia, and Ioannis Anagnostopoulos. “Social Media Use in Higher Education: A Review.” Education Sciences, vol. 8, no. 4, 2018, p. 194.