Microsoft Study Finds Technology Shortens Our Attention Span

Scroll through Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook and you will be bombarded by tons of news, status updates, announcements, and more, so trying to keep your focus on one thing can be hard as it would feel like you’re being overwhelmed with information. In fact this is why it does not come as a surprise to learn that thanks to technology, our attention spans are getting shorter.

This is according to a recent study conducted by Microsoft on how technology impacts the attention spans of its users. Now the study seems to be more specific towards Canadians and while it might vary from country to country, perhaps there might be parts of the study that you might agree with even if you aren’t Canadian.

That being said the study found that back in 2000, the average human attention span was at 12 seconds. However fast forward to 2013, the study found that the average human attention span has greatly reduced to a mere 8 seconds and if you’re wondering if this is good or bad, apparently it is just a second lesser than that of a goldfish. Yes, you read that right, our attention spans have become much worse since more than a decade ago.

However despite this rather alarming finding, it’s not all doom and gloom. The study has also found that despite our shorter attention spans, we have improved in other areas such as multitasking. It also found that we can prioritize things better, like discovering what needs our attention the most, but if this really worries you, perhaps reducing how addicted you are to your gadgets might be a good idea.

Tyler Lee
Categories: General
Tags: study