Reel life, real damage: the attention crisis of our times

Declining patience 

Have you noticed a growing trend lately? We seem to have lost the patience to sit through a two hour movie without skipping scenes or fast forwarding. Even waiting idle for just 10-15 minutes can feel like an eternity. Our attention spans have shortened so drastically that we often skip reading anything longer than two paragraphs unless it's incredibly engaging. Long videos, which we once watched with interest, now feel like a chore. What’s more alarming is the rise of features like fast-forwarding on short reels. It is a bit concerning that even a 30 to 60 second clip now feels too long to watch without fast forwarding. Why have we become so restless? What is this constant urge for speed and instant gratification doing to our focus and patience? Let’s decode

In today’s fast-paced world, our attention spans have noticeably declined. It’s demonstrated impatience on the roads, people riding vehicles faster than necessary or honking at the slightest delay. In buildings, pressing the elevator button repeatedly as if it will arrive quicker. It shows up in our habits too, the tendency to procrastinate, the shrinking interest in reading books or newspapers, we open multiple tabs while browsing but rarely finish reading one article, if an app or webpage takes more than a couple of seconds to load, we instinctively refresh or exit it, waiting in a queue even for 5 mins seem endless, our tendency to opt for instant meals & ordering food rather than cooking a meal. These seemingly small and subtle examples reflect a larger issue, a growing inability to stay present, focused and patient in our daily routines.

Contribution of social media 

According to a research by Das & Mishra (2024), it is speculated that there are several reasons behind the apparent decline in global attention spans, social media is often held as a major contributing factor. Many researchers point specifically to the phenomenon of ‘social media multitasking’ as a key culprit. Platforms like Facebook are designed to keep users engaged with multiple features at once ie news feeds, live videos, notifications and messaging, all demanding attention simultaneously. To add to that, users often switch between multiple apps which compounds the issue.

Influence of reels 

Watching short form content like reels significantly disrupts attention and focus. These mechanisms trigger instant gratification responses that ultimately weaken people’s ability to focus and sustain attention. Reels typically range from 15 to 90 seconds, yet the introduction and growing popularity of the fast-forward feature which allows viewers to watch these already short clips at a double speed (2x) reflects a concerning trend. This rapid consumption of content points to a deeper issue ie our diminishing ability to stay engaged, even for brief periods. The fact that even seconds feel too long for captivating visual content reveals the extent to which our attention spans may be shrinking in today’s digital age.

Our brains adapt to receiving information quickly, making regular paced content, conversations or tasks seem annoyingly slow. This can weaken our ability to stay engaged with activities that naturally progress more slowly. Over time we may develop a dependency on constant stimulation to remain interested. If children and young adults nowadays have lost patience in watching entertaining reels without fast forwarding then how can we expect them to enjoy reading black & white letters of a book that too without visually pleasing content and trending audios?

Current scenario 

Currently, audiences worldwide increasingly prefer watching movies on OTT platforms rather than in traditional theatres. One possible reason for this shift could be a decline in patience, where sitting through a two-hour film without the ability to control the pace or skip boring parts feels frustrating. OTT platforms offer viewers complete control ie they can pause, fast-forward or skip scenes at their convenience which is a flexibility that movie theatres do not provide.

Solutions to handle the impact

To mitigate the cognitive damage caused by excessive and fast paced digital consumption, it's essential to adopt mindful tech habits. One effective approach is to use tools like ‘Screen Time’ on iOS or ‘Digital Wellbeing’ on Android to set daily limits on social media usage. Also, turning off non-essential notifications helps prevent constant attention fragmentation, which allows the mind to stay focused and less reactive. It’s also important to avoid watching reels at 2x speed, as consistently consuming content at an accelerated pace can train the brain to become impatient with normal speed activities. Finally, setting a specific time window for scrolling each day rather than mindlessly opening apps can be helpful too. These small changes can make a significant difference in protecting and restoring our cognitive well-being.