Technology and Digital Media's Impact on Attention Span in Teenagers and Young Adults

Abstract

Most are concerned about the damage that social media and digital technology could pose to attention spans among teenagers and young adults; it elicits huge interest in research. The objective of this paper was primarily to explore the relationship between increased usage of social media and reduced attention span. Information from students at AP Seminar, Reedy High School, Frisco, TX, was collected through a survey on personal details about habits of using social media and attention spans based on self-reports. Results from 159 respondents showed a general significant relationship: higher social media use was consistently related to poor attentional control and higher distractibility. Statistical analysis, including chi-square tests, further motivated these findings to return significance above what would be expected by chance. Such findings recreate existing literature, offering evidence that prolonged exposure to digital media actually does impair attentional capacities among adolescents. Such measures could include introducing classes on digital literacy and mindfulness in schools to ensure that youngsters are aware of the risks of increasing time spent on digital media, raise awarenes among adolescents, and trigger policy changes that would ultimately ensure the better use of social media. Further studies of cross-sectional populations and longitudinal studies are needed for deeper understanding of the effects and to come up with targeted interventions geared to mitigate the adverse impact of digital media on cognitive functions.