I don’t actually use TikTok or even the “sliding” function on youtube shorts, but I feel like my attention span has gotten much worse after they started getting popular. Even watching a 2 minute video feels dreadfully long, let alone a 10 or 20 minute video, so I end up watching a mostly short animation memes instead.
TL;DR /s
Teacher here. I can absolutely see it in the attention spans of my students over the last few years vs those from even 5 years ago
that’s so sad.
Within the constraints of the job it might be impossible to implement any changes, but do you have any ideas how to keep students engaged for long term projects when they have these 2min-tik-tok attention spans? I’m asking as someone who sees this behaviour in younger colleagues that I try to educate as a senior… :D
So what I’ve found is that they need to be interested in doing whatever. As soon as it’s “boring” they lose interest. In other words, nope, not a clue. Maybe earning a paycheck will help your colleague realize the importance, but I don’t have any ideas that have worked. I try to make my lessons engaging, but I’m not a TikTok influencer, so …
maybe our generation (if we’re even the same, lol) could just hide our boredom better :D But deep down we all needed that teacher who could keep us engaged… but who knows… :)
You called yourself a senior. I’m in my early 40s, so I doubt it. Engagement tricks that used ti work in the past don’t seem to work anymore. That’s the problem.
i think the way you get served videos also plays a big part. on short form, you have to keep scrolling to find a video that interests you. whereas on long form you get to decide what to watch beforehand, from a bunch of recommendations
This makes sense, I read somewhere recently that there actually is no evidence that people’s attention span is getting shorter, it’s just crap people say.
I will admit to less patience for long videos & articles, but honestly I think there are good reasons for it. I’ve come to recognize when people are trying to stretch a topic and fill the void with useless puffery.
With a thriving competitive market for information video and long-form journalism, you can’t keep pulling that shit and expect people to sit through it, when the right arrow key is bit a few inches away from my hand.
I was a TikTok user for a couple of months, one night I noticed that I had spent a couple of hours just watching these stupid videos and not remembering anything. Since then I have uninstalled the app and felt better.
