abhijithajikumar Many today feel that attention spans are becoming shorter due to the prevalence of social media. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Over the last decade, people are increasingly engaged in social platforms. Many are of the perception that this trend has led to a decline in our attention spans. In this essay, I will strongly contend this statement to be true pointing to its adverse implications on both young and old.
With the advent of social media, many school going children spend a large portion of their time in them. Scrolling over their phone for hours, they go through the daily lives of their many internet friends, chat with them and watch random videos. Prolonged exposure to these social platforms may impair their focus from engaging in other mindful and meaningful activities including playing outdoors with friends and learning at schools. Many teachers nowadays, for instance, complain that they find it challenging to hold the attention of their students for long while teaching.
In the case of elderly people, social media has raised a serious concern on their focus, particularly in workplaces. These platforms have introduced ‘social and interest groups’ to make people to deeply engage in them. Hence, many people reach out to their pockets to browse these networks or text in the middle of their job. These frequent mobile checks take away their attention from the task at hand. This is particularly true given that many companies do not allow the usage of mobile phones at workplaces to ensure the attentiveness of their employees.
In conclusion, it is believed by many that the uprise of social media has a negative impact on our ability to focus for longer periods. I am in strong contention with this argument pertaining to its present social impacts on all age groups.
