Claim: Tiktok is making attention spans shorter

Question

https://www.arcurrent.com/opinion/2022/03/25/tiktok-is-shrinking-our-attention-span-with-every-swipe/

I find that when sitting down to do homework or something, my attention span runs out much quicker than it used to. I'm interested in seeing if apps like TikTok and the maximum length of videos being 1-3 minutes has trained people who use this app frequently to lose interest in things longer than that amount of time. There seems to be a little bit of back and forth about whether more people are getting diagnosed with ADHD now than before or if apps like TikTok is the issue.

Comments

I totally agree with this claim. I have found that this has also affected me as well, with spending so much time on tik tok Ive noticed my own attention span shortening a lot. I find it hard to focus on other tasks or long form shows. Ive noticed that this is a problem amongst my friends and people around me as well. I think a lot of people would agree that this is a worsening and serious problem. Upon further research, I found an article with a lot of evidence supporting this claim. It has expert insight from doctor who is quoted as saying that tik tok puts us in "pleasurable dopamine state" in which we get carried away. Tik tok puts us in a hypnotic type trance. It also had some quotes from students themselves who agree that spending so much time on the app has had negative effects on their mental and physical health. The link to this article I found is here: https://oakparktalon.org/15364/opinion/tiktok-is-shortening-our-attention-spans/#:~:text=Watching%20videos%20for%20hours%20a,an%20interview%20with%20Forbes%20magazine.

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Totally agree with this. I feel like before people would binge watch shows or 2+ hour movies but now we complain about 90 minute movies being long gone. It has definitely decreased our attention spans and ruined TV for a lot as well. Why would we ever need to read another book of watch another movie if someone could summarize it for me within 30 seconds to a minute?
Here's an interesting article that details more on it.
https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/34138/20211025/tiktok-bad-brain-constant-social-media-streaming-narrows-collective-attention.htm

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Personally, I do not agree with this claim. Although I do stick to watching short videos like TikTok and enjoy them. But I will also watch two hours of movies and one hour of TV series. And I am able to focus on that movie or TV series. I think we are able to adjust our attention in different environments.

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I completely agree with this claim. Ever since I started to use apps like TikTok, I have felt that my attention span is nowhere near what it used to be a couple of years ago. Even for watching longer videos or movies, I find myself opening TikTok to watch a couple of short videos before going back to the longer videos. Additionally, I think I was able to do work for longer periods of time before I started to use TikTok.


The article below discusses more about TikTok and our attention spans.

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@cocopeachhh @amtapia1@Eva Di @jasonchen58 for future fact-checks, please use the "answer" button rather than "comment" on a claim so that your fact-checks can be upvoted and be chosen as the best answer.

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@Eva Di and @jasonchen58 great responses with your personal take on this matter. For fact-checks, it's best to include a clear and detailed explanation that is evidence-based -- including source links -- as well as a rating (see the sidebar of this page).

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@cocopeachhh @amtapia1 nice work on your fact-checks. You've included an explanation and source links. Don't forget to add a rating, such as "true, not misinformation." For more information on ratings, please see the sidebar of this page.

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I do think that TikTok has an effect on people's attention span, however it is not as dire or drastic as we think. Personally, I do not have the app, but I find myself browsing other social media sites more than I should. Most grown adults are not on the app as much as young adults and kids. This may be due to lack of discipline.
I included an article that explains more: https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/34138/20211025/tiktok-bad-brain-constant-social-media-streaming-narrows-collective-attention.htm

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@Jrud future fact-checks, please use the "answer" button rather than "comment" on a claim so that your fact-checks can be upvoted and be chosen as the best answer. Good job providing an explanation and details as well as a source link. Don't forget to add a rating next time.

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I get what you're saying—it's like we’re getting used to content that's bite-sized, so longer tasks, like homework, feel way harder to focus on. TikTok and similar apps train us to expect constant quick rewards, which might make focusing on anything that requires more time seem dull by comparison. There’s debate about whether this is leading to more ADHD diagnoses or if it's just that ADHD is being more widely recognized.

Answer 1

I think that the claim of people's attention span decreasing is true, but I don't think that we directly pin it on TikTok as there are other social media platforms that we spend hours a day on. The source that this article originally got it's information from seems reliable, but again it only talks about the decrease in attention spans over the years and not how they know that TikTok is directly at fault for that. For this article, I couldn't find any other projects from him, but the original source author has had many other articles published. This article is from 2022 and the original source is from 2021, so I would say that this news is outdated and there are many other articles who report the same claim from this time. I don't think that these claims are bias, however it has been very popular these last couple of years to blame the decline of the new generation on social media use, which I think is valid, but we can't blame it all on TikTok.

Answer 2

In the United States, youths and younger adults' focus periods are undoubtedly shortened by TikTok. As a frequent user of TikTok, I've discovered that I can't just sit and watch a movie anymore without doing anything else. For example, it feels impossible to focus on one thing for hours these days, so I frequently play games on my phone while watching a movie. But TikTok isn't the only one. According to research published in Nature Communications, other factors contributing to this decline in human attention spans include Google, for instance, Reddit, and Twitter, with its hashtags.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-09311-w

Answer 3

I strongly agree with this point. Since I began using apps like TikTok and Instagram reels, I’ve noticed my attention span has significantly declined compared to a few years ago. Even when watching longer videos or movies, I'll find myself opening TikTok for a quick break to watch a few short clips before returning to what I was originally watching. I also feel that I could focus on tasks for longer stretches of time before I started using TikTok. I feel that the repeated short term stimulation I have subjected myself to, has affected my attention span.