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 would say that the collective attention span has decreased over the years, but I would not directly pin it on TikTok. Yes, short TikToks have fit the collective attention range, but there are many factors. A study, published in Nature Communications, detects a decrease in attention span starting over ten years ago. So, other types of media has contributed.

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

Comments

Good job providing an explanation and source link for your fact-check. Don't forget to add a rating, such as "true, not misinformation" if your evidence supports that.

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I can agree with the statement, I have found my attention span getting worse and worse teh more I scroll on TikTok. Furthermore, I think your source does a good job explaining why this happens.

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I agree with this comment. A lot of factors have gone into shortening attention spans and it's not because of TikTok. In fact multiple social media platforms contain shorten videos and media.

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I agree with this fact check because there are multiple possible factors that can affect the attention span of an individual, not just TikTok. Studies have show that along with social media that depression, autism, ADHD, head injuries, not getting enough sleep, and more play a role in people having shorter attention spans. Therefore this fact check is valid due to the fact that it provides information that helps to back up that TikTok isn't the only problem that causes shorter attention spans.

Information from: https://www.healthline.com/health/short-attention-span#causes

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I agree with this fact check, and I think that this answer was easy to understand as well as informative. I agree that while Tiktok can be a large facture that plays in the decline of peoples attention spans, it did not necessarily root from there originally. It can be argued that social media as a whole has affected the spans of people, but along with other factors as well.
I also liked the added source to your argument, helping us get a better understanding and knowledgeable take from it all.

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This is a good factcheck as you include your source and back up the idea that TikTok isn't inherently the single factor to blame and that this is a larger ongoing issue with society and media. Nice job!

Answer 2

I would agree, ever since having TicToK I find myself easily distracted and less productive with my school work!

Comments

Nice input on your personal experience. For fact-checks, it's best to explain all the evidence -- besides your personal experience -- and include details and support (source links) for your fact-check's rating, which might be "true, not misinformation" in this case. For more information on ratings, see the sidebar of this page.

Answer 3

Tiktok has very similar aspects to gambling especially things like slot machines. There are addictive properties to it similar to those of gambling. This can be described as "random reinforcement" with the winning and losing aspects the platform is designed for people to form this addiction to it. Since it has these familiar properties I do not exactly think that results inn people having a shorter attention span.

https://oakparktalon.org/15364/opinion/tiktok-is-shortening-our-attention-spans/

Comments

Good job providing an explanation and source link for your fact-check. Don't forget to add a rating, such as "true, not misinformation" if your evidence supports that.

Answer 4

I definitely agree with this claim because I'm a walking example of it. I've naturally always had problems focusing, I often find that receiving more content in smaller increments of time is one way to keep me engaged. I love that tiktok has short and long video options. I could learn so much in 15 seconds. After awhile 15 seconds turned into 60 which turned into 3 minutes. I found that I'm more likely to scroll past a longer video, merely because I don't have the patience to sit back and watch the entire thing. Sometimes, I save a video to my favorites in hopes of going back to watch the rest of it later and often I never do. Lately, the 15 second videos are starting to seem long too.... The attached article discusses how technology is starting to short change our attention spans. https://www.theguardian.com/sbs-on-demand--are-you-addicted-to-technology/2021/apr/23/is-technology-short-changing-our-attention-spans

Comments

Nice input on your personal experience. For fact-checks, it's best to explain all the evidence -- besides your personal experience -- and include details and support for your fact-check's rating, which might be "true, not misinformation" in this case. For more information on ratings, see the sidebar of this page.

Answer 5

As someone who spends too much time on TikTok, I agree that I have a more challenging time focusing for longer intervals and zone out after a few minutes. When researching this, I learned that other people had reported similar experiences after using the app for a while.

https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/34138/20211025/tiktok-bad-brain-constant-social-media-streaming-narrows-collective-attention.htm

Comments

Don't forget to add a rating to your fact-checks going forward.

Answer 6

I agree that this claim is valid based on personal experience. When I was on Tiktok for long periods of time, I found myself watching videos that were shorter and getting bored at videos if they were longer than a minute and a half, unless it really got my attention which was hard to do. However, after doing a social media cleanse, I found my attention span returning to what it used to be.

Comments

Great response 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).

Answer 7

This claim is not necessarily misinformation or false. It has some truth to it; however, the article it's linked to does not provide a source that directly says this with credible evidence. I traced the source back to a study that shows a "constant stream of information" is slowly "narrowing" our attention span. TikTok does fall under this category, but it's not directly shown to shorten attention spans. Other related articles explain that while the short videos on TikTok do provide short bursts of dopamine which cause users to get distracted or bored faster, there is no direct evidence that TikTok is creating shorter attention spans in the long term. An article in the National Library of Medicine reveals that technology's effects on attention are "inconclusive." Therefore, this article's main claim is exaggerated and not specifically corroborated by evidence.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6430174/

https://www.bustle.com/wellness/tiktok-attention-span-brain-effects-experts

Answer 8

I have heard this claim but I never knew if it was true. However, after reading the article, I think that the claim that "TikTok is making attention spans shorter" might be over exaggerated. The source itself does not specifically cite any evidence. The author also uses a lot of "I" statements to back up his claim. When journalists write they use quotes from credible sources instead of using their own opinions to back up evidence. After reading the article, I looked at the source "the science times" that they used when they stated those "who use the app for over 90 minutes a day can narrow their collective attention span over time." After looking through "the science times" article, I found no such quote. I actually found a quote that said "Although the study does not explicitly talk about Tiktok, this is a relevant study that suggests the app has genuinely affected people's brain. A previous report from Science Times even featured the increased number of tics in teen girls following the viral Tourette videos shared in TikTok." This article that they used to defend their claim did not mention anything about Tik Tok decreasing attention spans and actually stated there is not direct link. I think that attention spans are decreasing, but to say that TikTok is the reason is false. 

https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/34138/20211025/tiktok-bad-brain-constant-social-media-streaming-narrows-collective-attention.htm 

Answer 9

I agree that Tik Tok is partially responsible for a decrease in attention span among teenagers and young adults in the United States. As a frequent Tik Tok user, I have found that I cannot simply sit down and watch a movie anymore: I must be doing multiple things at once. For example, while watching a movie, I must also play a game on my phone. My attention span is too short to allow me to focus on a single thing for multiple hours. Though, Tik Tok is not only to blame for this decrease in attention span. A study published by Nature Communications blames Twitter, hashtags, Google and Reddit, among others.

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

Answer 10

When researching this claim, the main consensus is that users use Tik Tok to acquire dopamine. Dr. Sanam Hafeez Psy.D. tells Bustle News that Tik Tok users scroll through videos until they get dopamine and once they do they keep scrolling to find another video that gives them dopamine. In a study done by Nature Scientific Reports in 2020, it is found that frequent social media users tend to multi-task better and are more impulsive making it more difficult to focus. However, there is no direct evidence that Tik Tok specifically shortens attention span in the long term rather a mix of all social media and social media tendencies.
 

https://www.bustle.com/wellness/tiktok-attention-span-brain-effects-experts 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31059635/