How Social Media Effects Our Attention Span Outline 

By: Jerry Vaughn 

Topic: How Social Media Apps Effects Our Attention Span 

General Purpose: To Inform 

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INTRODUCTION 

Attention grabber: Ask the audience how long they spend on social media in a day. Then tell the audience a personal story on how social media affected my attention span.  

Central Idea – Social Media apps are destroying our attention span and in turn hinders our learning. 

Specific Purpose – To provide evidence and information on the negative effects of social media apps on our brains. 

Significance – A lot of people but primarily young individuals are tied to technology and social media. So social media is heavily present in the daily lives of our future lawyers, doctors, teachers, influencers, and politicians.  

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BODY 

Problem 

• Our Attention Span is being reduced by social media 
  –  People who are addicted to the internet are seen to develop similar brain patterns to those of substance addiction.  
  – A study found that primary/elementary school children that have “internet addiction” have ADHD – like symptoms and kids already diagnosed with ADHD score highly on tests of internet addiction.  
  – A study conducted in 2013 by an American research group found that 4-year-old children’s attention spans predict their math and reading skills later in life, going up until their early twenties. The children with higher attention span scores were found to be more likely to complete a university degree by the age of 25 compared to the lower-scoring children.  
   
  Transition: So now that we see a couple of problems with social media and our reduced attention span lets transition into the cause of this 

 
 
 
 
Cause 

• Instant Gratification 
  – Apps such as Instagram and TikTok have videos that are under a minute. If a video does not immediately grab our attention, then we most likely keep scrolling. We want to be instantly pleased or in other words, gratified. The dopamine rushes to our head after watching a quick entertaining video or gaining a couple likes or followers on Instagram has made us grown accustomed to instant gratification. 
   
• People find things to be boring 
  – During a lecture, a class about a topic/subject a person is not interested in, or just a regular conversation; a person will more than likely be distracted and in some cases go on social media to receive instant gratification. 
   
  Transition: Seeing the problems and the causes of attention span reduction, I will explain some solutions on how to prevent this. 
   
   

Solution 

• Reducing screen time 
  – Putting your phone down for at least 15-30 mins to do something productive. Reading a book, going outside, anything along those lines without the use of your phone. (Ask people what they like to do for fun to make things more relatable) 
  -overall, just use your phone less if average hours are too much. 
• Staying away from your phone for an hour after waking up. 
  – Do this to avoid being interrupted constantly while trying to get ready for work/school. (Ask people who use/bring their phone in the bathroom before I get into this point) 

• Reward yourself after concentrating for a while.  
  – After staying concentrated in class or after reading a book for about an hour or so. This is the time to scroll through TikTok or Instagram.  

CONCLUSION 
In conclusion, social media can be detrimental to your attention span and can affect your ability to learn and stay focused on a topic. We love it because of the ease of use and quick dopamine rushes it gives us. Despite all that I have presented today, social media can still be a useful tool if used in moderation. Remember to always give yourself breaks, set times up for social media breaks, and reward yourself after lengthy periods of concentrating.  

REFERENCES 
Social media is shortening our attention spans 
https://www.queensjournal.ca/story/2022-09-01/opinions/social-media-is-shortening-our-attention-spans/#:~:text=Social%20media%20has%20taken%20over,are%20ways%20to%20combat%20it. 
Impact of Social Media on Our Attention Span and its Drastic Aftermath 
https://countercurrents.org/2021/04/impact-of-social-media-on-our-attention-span-and-its-drastic-aftermath/ 
 
The goldfish effect: why social media shortens our attention span 
https://www.mytutor.co.uk/blog/parents/educational-advice/attention-span-social-media/ 
 
How Social Media Videos Can Impact a Child’s Attention Span 
https://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2022/07/05/how-social-media-videos-can-impact-a-childs-attention-span/#:~:text=Manos%20said%20there%20is%20currently,which%20they%20think%20is%20boring.