Microsoft: Technology use is related to shorter attention span

Microsoft conducted a survey among Canadians and concluded that there is a correlation between use of new technology, such as smartphones and social media, and attention span. For many users, the attention span is noticeably shorter, according to Microsoft.

On average, attention spans have decreased from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds now, according to the Redmond company. The researchers made a connection with a ‘digital lifestyle’, which is defined as the use of mobile phones, social networks and other media. Incidentally, it is mainly young people who profile themselves with this lifestyle. The study shows that it is mainly the frequent users of new technologies who have a short attention span. It is therefore likely that many readers of this article do not get past the first paragraph.

A second association was also found, which is more favorable for technology users. For example, although they have a shorter attention span, brain research has shown that they have more short-term peaks in their attention. This indicates that they are better at multitasking, as they can quickly shift their attention a number of times in a short time.

It is not clear how representative the study is. For example, due to the research design, no causal connections can be drawn and it has not been published in a scientific journal: the research is mainly aimed at marketers. The research report can be found on Microsoft’s website.