Social Media on Attention Span

                  Technology has become a constant want in the consumer market and is growing faster with each coming year. As it grows, it becomes more available for the younger generation. A generation revolved strictly around technology can prove to become harmful to the development of the adolescent brain. A “goldfish generation”, some call it, where the kids of today have an attention span so short that it is less than that of a goldfish. In a day and age of digital addiction, we have created such an environment around the youth that it has lessened the attention span of generation z.

                  Social media is a huge part of the young culture of today’s society. It brings with it faster ways to communicate, look up information, and to let everyone know what’s going on in your life with just the click of a button. Social media controls how we perceive or judge others life’s through their popularity from the sight. For example, Instagram is the new popular app on social media right now. How it works is by the user posting a picture, doesn’t matter what it is, and then other users liking that photo. Kids of today are so caught up in the number of likes and followers, that it has become more of a priority than anything else. This proves to be a huge conflict in the classroom. As a college student at Middle Tennessee University, I see student every day who have to have their cell phones on their desk at all times, waiting to get their next notification. Just merely having it on your desk prohibits your ability to focus. Even I fall into the trap of waiting to get a text or tweet. It makes you realize how good we have effectively made technology to keep the interest of the consumer.

                  Though Technology can take away, it can also give back. Its matter of how we use what’s in front of us and use it at an extent. Social media offers more than just a basis to judge, but a platform to promote. In a career such as music, posting songs with a photo is a solid way to get your stuff out there. It can also bring awareness to things such as the ALS ice bucket challenge which was making donation towards charities. But for the most part, if you let it take over you in the wrong ways, it will become a conflict and can lessen your attention span. 

                  Social media presents itself in an ever so growing environment that has proved to be both good and bad. Good in that it can be used as a platform for awareness, but bad because it can become unhealthy if used too often or made a priority over other important things. Tristan Harris, a product philosopher at Google, explained: “Every time you turn on your phone there are 1,000 other people on the other side of the screen whose job is to keep you there for as long as possible.” Long periods of staring at your phone can inhibit the mind from certain abilities and may become a factor to consider for generations to come. Making social media or technology in general, a way less priority, the impact would be considerably less.