One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. That is the average attention span among Gen-Z, approximately eight seconds. This short time is also the attention span of a goldfish. Studies have repeatedly shown that Gen-Z is unable to focus on one thing at once for any long periods of time, requiring a constant variety of stimulants to keep them attentive.

Part of the reason Gen-Z is the generation most susceptible to retaining a short attention span is that they grew up having any information they needed right at their fingertips. Growing up with the use of multiple devices, this generation became used to multitasking and jumping between activities at a high rate. 

Growing up with the use of rapidly advancing technology, social media has only further drained the attention span. Teens become stuck in a continuous, unbreakable loop, where they unconsciously scroll down their timeline in search of any kind of dopamine release they can get out of it. A study conducted by Yahoo and OMD Worldwide has found that Gen Z loses active attention to ads after just 1.3 seconds, which is less time than any other age group. Skippable ads presented on YouTube and vertical scrolling like that on TikTok gives the audience the choice of what to focus their attention on. They deem things they dislike as unimportant, and if it doesn’t intrigue them within the first few seconds, they simply move on. It has taught us that, if we can’t receive instant gratification from performing an activity as we do from social media apps, it simply isn’t worth our time, and we move on to something else we find mentally stimulating. Social media apps nowadays are designed to draw the user in and keep them engaged for longer than intended, constantly presenting them with new and interesting content. “It doesn’t surprise me that as a collective, our attention span is so low,” said Junior Diana Mansouri. “Especially for people who are easily distracted, it’s easy to get caught up scrolling on TikTok because you’re constantly being exposed to different content meant to consume you, and you feel compelled to keep scrolling because there’s this intriguing nature to whatever you’ll see next.”

The media is filled with purposeful distractions and eye-catching content. With an abundance of content present on platforms, people’s attention can only be grabbed by compelling material, and this has caused people to become very selective with the content they consume. For Gen-Z to truly commit to giving their attention to something, it has to be visually appealing, include an interesting narrative, and hold a certain level of uniqueness to truly capture their attention. All this being said, it isn’t unusual for the generation to binge-watch a whole series within one sitting, which can demonstrate Gen-Z’s ability to give their wanted attention to a matter they find to be intriguing or stimulating. Nowadays, it is seemingly more apparent that something needs to be able to capture their attention within eight seconds to convince them to involve themselves deeper within the content. “I can definitely focus easily on something that I am interested in or care about,” said Junior Kennedy Marable. “But if I am being forced to do something that doesn’t pertain to my interests at all, that’s when other things such as my phone start to look a lot more appealing.”

Just because you may have a short attention span, doesn’t mean you are set up for failure. There are still ways to get things done despite this, by effectively locking in and giving yourself a sense of motivation that will drive you to fulfill your goals and revel in your accomplishments. Slowly but surely, our minds can be trained to focus for longer periods, not because we deny ourselves of short-term distractions, but because we know the best is yet to come.