Facebook, Twitter: leading to shortened attention spans and self-centered children.

Social networking sites are doing irrevocable damage to the brains of child users, a top neuroscientist claims. Susan Greenfield, director of the Royal Institution, says that social networking is leading to shortened attention spans and self-centered children.

“It is hard to see how living this way on a daily basis will not result in brains, or rather minds, different from those of previous generations,” she said.

In an address to the House of Lords last month, Greenfield warned that “the mid-21st century mind might almost be infantilized, characterized by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to empathize and a shaky sense of identity."

More at:

http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/02/25/05/2759-72/index.xml

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It certainly does.

Now I think these sites can also spur creativity and activate other parts of the brain that night not have been "tapped" - but there's definitely evidence on shorter attention spans. And it's not just kids. How many times when you are having a conversation with someone to the check their blackberry or other device? How many times do you hear "one sec - just txt'ing someone" or "updating my facebook status" or "twittering"

Nothing against these sites - but it's interesting to note how some would consider these tasks as multi-tasking. But truth be told, is it really multi-tasking if you're only really getting one thing at a time with a concentration level worthy of that item?

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I'm going to post this link in a note on Facebook and tag all my friends to warn them.

For everything created over the past 100 years, there's someone claiming it shortens attention spans. Gen X, it was MTV and video games, baby boomers was TV, before that, they were probably complaining about the radio and newsreels. The human race has managed to survive despite the distractions before, so I think we'll be ok.

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Aren't ALL generations self-centered? As a whole, are the Baby Boomers more concerned for themselves or for the generations that follow? My money is on the former.

It just gets worse.

However, we need a MUCH better education and parenting system. That's what it comes down to.

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I don't understand how this relates to me. Meanwhile we have


OH My God! Are those Doughnuts! You better have got me a buttermilk one!

I don't know a single person under the age of 18 who uses Twitter, and I volunteer with high schoolers. But I see just as many middle-aged professionals welded to their Blackberrys as I do middle schoolers texting their friends. As I said, children and teenagers are learning this is acceptable behavior from somewhere.

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I do think the Internet has escalated it dramatically. It's not a "steady decline" so much as a free-fall plummet. And we can barely analyze and wrap our heads around what's going on before it's shifted drastically again.

But like every new technological invention, there are people who will eagerly abuse it and overuse it to the point of damaging their social skills and behavior, and people who will use it to great advantage as it was intended.

If you think of Internet communication as "means" rather than an "end" you're on the right track. If this is "where the train stops" in your social world, that's not healthy. It is not a substitute for face-to-face human interaction or focusing on the people standing in front of you (physically). Learning how to deal with people who may have differences of opinion and actually speaking to them is a lot harder than just "clicking away" from them on a website page, hiding behind a phony name or avatar, or hitting the "block" button. There's no social skill involved in that.

People were not meant to be "channel-surfed through." And what the Internet does, that is perhaps most damaging of all, is to trivialize. When people are so busy clicking buttons, surfing along, and living in the moment, down to the millisecond, that they don't actually stop and think about anything or anyone, their entire daily life experience becomes a meaningless barrage of four-word status updates, pointless text comments, and exclamatory reactions to things that are forgotten immediately after the "send" button is hit. There's no relevance to any of it.

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Well, first of all, this isn't a generational thing at all.

People of all ages are abusing the online social networks and Internet communication devices.

It's not an "old folks" vs. "young folks" scenario. I see just as many people from my generation (and OLDER) turning into ADD/OCD freaks today in the supermarkets, standing in lines, or (God forbid) driving in traffic. They're not actually talking to anyone they're with, or they pull away to type something trivial and hit the "send" button.

But that "socially retarded" behavior knows no age limit.

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Updated On: 2/25/09 at 10:54 AM

Well said Besty.

I'll add by saying that many of the younger heavy users (in many conversations I've had and witnessed) believe that posting on message boards, twittering, facebooking, myspacing, etc IS being social.

I suppose in some degree it is. But in reality (interesting double meaning there) - it's not. You are not being truly social. Interactive perhaps. Social? Not so much.

It's in fact leading to somewhat anti-social behavior. People (not just kids - there.. happy?) are spending more time behind their computers and devices than face to face contact. And Besty before me makes all the right comments on that. For better or worse, you can't just click-ignore people in real life. You need to figure out ways to communicate or handle all social interactions and sitations.

Perhaps this is why I absolutely LOVE Dentyne's newest campaign which plays on social networking with it's "Make Face Time" series of ads.

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Brilliant. His comment about internet on airlines is not only priceless - but extremely accurate

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Actually back in the day, Sesame Street was also blamed for shortened attention spans of the children who grew up watching it. The fast paced frenetic commercial like segments were said to be more detrimental then the longer slower paced Mr Roger's neighborhood.
I think every generation will be criticized for having shorter attention spans and each criticism will be believed to be caused by the the social factor Du Jour.

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People were not meant to be "channel-surfed through." And what the Internet does, that is perhaps most damaging of all, is to trivialize. When people are so busy clicking buttons, surfing along, and living in the moment, down to the millisecond, that they don't actually stop and think about anything or anyone, their entire daily life experience becomes a meaningless barrage of four-word status updates, pointless text comments, and exclamatory reactions to things that are forgotten immediately after the "send" button is hit. There's no relevance to any of it.

And there's got to be some irony in the fact that you are telling us this via a message board, right? (Just kiddin'! No hatin'!)