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Are attention spans actually shortening?
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this post was submitted on 29 Sep 2023
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Asklemmy
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Nothing has changed
I don't believe anything has changed neurologically or psychologally in the last decades.
There have always been people who are more susceptible to consume "trashy" (provoking, easy to consume) media.
Once it was low-quality newspapers (a german band once refered to them as "fear, hate, tits and the weather forecast", which fits really well!), then it was trash TV, then mobile games, and now TikTok and stuff. Some people are just attracted to flashy stuff and can't get enough dopamine.
It's just that the latter example is very new, and everything new is automatically bad, no matter what.
There have always been young people who read books, create art, video game, listen or create music, have hobbies, and so on.
BUT, something has changed:
One word: attention economy. Capitalism realized, that especially in combination with ads, you can create A LOT of money by making easy to consume content.
If a platform uses dark patterns (emotional or funny content, reinforcement, short content instead of longer stuff, flashy stuff, likes, endless scrolling, keeping you as long as possible in the app, etc.), it makes a lot more money with it's users.
Years of algorithms perfectionized manipulating you and your attention span with supernatural stimuli (as mentioned above).
What to do with those informations?
Notice, how boring Lemmy, RSS-feeds, and stuff like that are?
After checking my posts for this day, I'm done and do something different, like cleaning the kitchen. Now, I'm on the toilet and don't have anything else to do, and I have fun answering you :)
That's how our devices should work. I don't wanna be a slave, I want to own my device, and not the other way around.
Tbh, I'm grateful Reddit went downhill. A year ago I could never imagine nuking my account.
I spent my whole teenage and now adult years (15 - now) on that shithole, was super addicted and couldn't spend 2 minutes without checking my phone, even in meetings, dates, and so on. It was just as bad as vaping for me. I knew, that it was slowly killing every brain cell, but "loved" it too much.
Thanks, u/spez ❤️ You killed Reddit for me and made my new "Reddit" (-> Lemmy, but with the same app) THAT boring for me I bought an e-reader now to read books instead😂
Yes I think you're right. People haven't changed, but the environment has changed - it's continually getting better at manipulating us.
Lemmy does have a limited amount of content, but what it does have seems to be of higher quality. Which is perfect! We don't need constant, cheap content.
I don't think Lemmy has higher quality content, but it has less content which makes you interact with it to get more of your social media fix. I've seen this post a couple times passing by, and I've just come back to look through the comments because there isn't anything new to see.
I would say higher quality content in that the comments are pertinent and not just jokes. Sometimes I'd spend a couple of minutes reading nonsense on Reddit before realizing, then I'd try to scroll way down for a fresh comment thread, then just give up on the post
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:
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! 😁
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?
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.
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.
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.
Not sure it is higher. Last week a cop was ambushed and murdered and of the 50 plus comments, every single one of them were praising the murder. I see that kind of mentality far more here.