Marium Ibrahim Ahmed
Oct 23, 2024
Social Media’s Impact on Attention Span and Desensitisation
It’s not unusual for people today to find themselves scrolling past violent imagery, shocking news, and funny memes in the span of a few seconds without fully reacting to either of the three things. People report that constantly coming across tragic content on social media has made them numb because they’ve become used to it – to the extent that they feel no emotional response to it anymore. Along with becoming desensitised to violence and tragic events, people also appear to have developed an extremely short attention span and an inability to remain focused.
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is characterised by attention deficits, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. A longitudinal study shows that a problematic use of social media – which is characterised by addiction-like behaviour – causes an increase in ADHD symptoms as well as impulsivity. This can include behaviours such as habitually checking social media, a constant urge to respond to incoming messages, and putting off other tasks to use social media.
People who use social media excessively are used to switching between using social media and performing other tasks online or offline. Research shows that this can lead to attention deficits as well as impair a person’s ability to tell important information apart from irrelevant information. Furthermore, since it can cause attention deficits, it means that it can make focusing on tasks that require a long attention span difficult for people since they are prone to being easily distracted.
The longitudinal nature of the research also revealed that the increases in impulsivity could be attributed to the rise of new social media platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat which introduced unique features such as Stories and Snapstreaks. The incentive provided by the temporariness of content shared through these features made social media a lot more attractive and difficult to resist for adolescents.
The very same social media platforms that can cause mental health problems can also be used to disseminate useful information and create mental health awareness. But the problem doesn’t just lie in the way that social media is leveraged and used, the problem lies in its addictive design and attention-economy business model that makes it difficult for people to make mindful choices and stay in control.
Scrolling through your feed and coming across tragedies one after the other means that people do not get enough time to process such events and instead resort to doom-scrolling or go down a rabbit hole. This exemplifies self-infliction of desensitisation.
Whether it's a fear of losing your phone, an urge to respond in time to maintain your snapstreak, or doom-scrolling, everything has a negative impact on your mental and/or physical health in one way or another. And other than being flooded with negative news, social media is also often a hub of misinformation.
A study on TikTok and social media content quality found that misleading videos about ADHD are being widely disseminated on the platform. This raises a new concern for the impact social media platforms can have on clinical care.
Unlike other social media platforms which focus on profiting from capturing the attention of their users, Confinity views the human need for social connection with sincerity. With its unique features and AI powered functionalities which are geared towards promoting a mindful and positive use of the platform, Confinity sets itself apart from traditional social media platforms which breed negativity and mental health issues. Its distinct take on memory preservation defines itself as more than just a storage of images and videos.
At its core, Confinity’s memory preservation feature plays an important role in facilitating the process of preserving memories for future generations as well as for people suffering from a deteriorating memory. In this regard, it stems purely from a place of love, care, and dedication to foster genuine connections and strengthen existing bonds.
Traditional social media platforms create a fast-paced online environment for users which causes them to lose interest in tasks that require them to stay focused for longer periods. On the other hand, Confinity believes in the need for slowing down and facilitates the process through its mindful journaling feature. The journaling feature, combined with a culture of intentional engagement over mindless scrolling, is specifically geared towards that – curating a meaningful online presence instead of spending hours on the internet doing nothing in particular.
Confinity surrounds people with positivity and hope instead of filling them with dread and anxiety. Its features help people in regulating their emotions by allowing them to process their thoughts and feelings. Additionally, by engaging them in journaling and building their legacy through a personalised memory storage system, Confinity retains their focus on a productive and meaningful task. These mindful activities can help people in stabilising their emotions, reduce stress, and improve their concentration.
Confinity provides users with a safe space where they can be themselves without fearing judgement or needing to present a fake lifestyle to increase likeability and get social validation. And its essence lies in its genuinity; the connections are organic, the memories are real, and the feelings are raw and unprocessed – everything is real, just like it should be.