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Are attention spans actually shortening? (feddit.uk)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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So a view I see a lot nowadays is that attention spans are getting shorter, especially when it comes to younger generations. And the growing success of short form content on Tiktok, Youtube and Twitter for example seems to support this claim. I have a friend in their early 20s who regularly checks their phone (sometimes scrolling Tiktok content) as we're watching a film. And an older colleague recently was pleased to see me reading a book, because he felt that anyone my age and younger was less likely to want to invest the time in reading.

But is this actually true on the whole? Does social media like Tiktok really mould our interests and alter our attention? In some respects I can see how it could change our expectations. If we've come to expect a webpage to load in seconds, it can be frustrating when we have to wait minutes. But to someone that was raised with dial-up, perhaps that wouldn't be as much of an issue. In the same way, if a piece of media doesn't capture someone in the first few minutes they may be more inclined to lose focus because they're so used to quick dopamine hits from short form content. Alternatively, maybe this whole argument is just a 'kids these days' fallacy. Obviously there are plenty of young adults that buck this trend.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

I wouldn't agree with "better content" per se.

There's just as much "spam" (links to articles, low effort posts, etc.) as everywhere else. At the same time, the content is waaaay better.

Karma

The fact that you don't have to keep your karma in mind here let's you speak more freely.

If I would say "Pineapple on pizza is disgusting", I would have been downvoted to oblivion on Reddit. Here, they just ignore it, OR, don't downvote and tell me why I might be wrong.

Back to Reddit: That, in fact, would give me two options:

Delete this said comment, which would discourage discussions and make every community hive-minded, or,
Stay strong to my opinion, and loose the ability to post to many subs anymore, because I now have -5000 Karma.

I always chose 1... Here, I don't care. And this mindset has lead to many great, mind opening discussions.

Even on subs like r/Changemyview or r/Unpopularopinion this culture didn't exist. No opinion was unpopular, merely "weird" (like "I like my socks wet" and stuff). Every "unpopular" opinion was popular on Reddit. And elsewhere, everything was a fight.

On this site, disagreeing is only for useful discussions I had/ read too. It's almost like an "anti-echochamber", and I love it! I love my opinions being challenged.

One more result of that is that the upvote/ downvote function went from "I agree/ I find that funny" or "This is against the subs opinion" to "This comment is worth reading for others and adds value. OP put work into it". WHICH IT SHOULD ALWAYS HAVE BEEN! This button isn't for disagreeing, it's for FILTERING out trash!

Algorithm

Also, there's no algorithm. On many other social media, post that make you laugh (-> mostly dumb stuff or reposts) or promote strong emotions (mostly aggression and tribalism) got promoted.

Here, it's somehow totally random. There's so much "boring" stuff on my trending page. But, I've discovered many cool niche subs here I wouldn't have otherwise. I didn't know so many people were into collecting space rocks and model trains for example 😁

E.g., my own gourmet-mushroom-growing-community got super many views and comments from people who've never heart of that before. That was unbelievable!

On the other hand, there's sooo much useless information, some opt-in filtering/ algorithm wouldn't be bad tbh. But many say that about account karma too, which is a way smaller feature, and that has repercussions too (see above). Something like an algorithm would be HUGE, but also maybe hugely bad for this site?

Idk, tell me! Be controversial! 😁

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes the karma system here is way better! It definitely reduces the hive mind mentality.

I don't think we need any kind of algorithm though. That would only serve to make the popular stuff more popular and the niche stuff gets buried. Maybe if I could personally filter out communities that I'm not interested in?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Yes the karma system here is way better! It definitely reduces the hive mind mentality.

Sure, but we have to make sure we communicate what the up-/downvote function actually is for. Many Reddit-refugees would otherwise just keep it as a "I agree"-button, and nothing would change for the better.

Maybe if I could personally filter out communities that I’m not interested in?

I agree with the sentence before, but I don't think filtering out everything you're uninterested in is remotely possible. Yes, you can filter out some specific communities you dislike, like all those Linux-subs, if you find them annoying. (OH, btw.: That was a comment in one of their/ our memes, and when one guy, coming from outside the sub, complained this stuff is constantly on his trending page, someone suggested "We're only 3 popular subs. Just blacklist us and you'll never hear from us again" it really resonated with me!)

Alternative?

I personally would rather enjoy a "promote" than "bury" function, something like a "GigaUpvote™" for posts you wish others to see too. Market the up- and downvote button as a quality filter, especially for comments, and if a post gets a certain ratio of up- and downvotes, comments and promotions, it will appear on the "popular"-tab.

Just as an additional function, IF YOU WANT. Keep the "old" spirit for those who prefer it, and suggest it for newcomers to find new content. And make it easy to toggle off for social media junkies like myself.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Your concerns about the need for an algorithm is correct.

But, instead of "personalized content", users should be able to make their own algorithm, with subscription and filter lists. I use uBlock Origin to block content you named as 'tribalist' (good take!).

But maybe I'm more sensitive. I don't find Lemmy boring, I can lurk here for hours. So I also blocked the 'prev/next' buttons just to stay on the first page (I'm an eccentric person).

Good article.