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The Online Brain Hypothesis

Should we worry about shorter attention spans?

Jerry Silfwer
by Jerry Silfwer

Cover photo: @jerrysilfwer

tl:dr;
The online brain hypothesis raises concerns about attention spans, but more research is needed to get a clearer picture of how social media affects our brains.

Table of contents

The online brain hypo­thes­is raises crit­ic­al questions.

Attention is mul­ti­fa­ceted, encom­passing everything from alert­ness and sus­tained con­cen­tra­tion to more com­plex pro­cesses like atten­tion­al switch­ing and inhib­i­tion. Our under­stand­ing of atten­tion is incom­plete, espe­cially in an era when digit­al plat­forms com­pete relent­lessly for every fleet­ing moment of our focus.

This notion of an ‘online brain’ raises crit­ic­al ques­tions about the long-term effects of digit­al media on cog­nit­ive func­tions, includ­ing memory and focus.

Here we go:

The Online Brain Hypothesis

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The Online Brain Hypothesis

In the rap­idly evolving digit­al age, how we pro­cess inform­a­tion is being trans­formed. The rise of the inter­net and its ever-chan­ging stream of inform­a­tion have led to a notice­able shift in our atten­tion­al capacities. 

“The Internet can alter our cog­ni­tion, affect­ing atten­tion, memory, and social cog­ni­tion, with poten­tial brain changes.”
Source: World Psychiatry 1Firth, J., Torous, J., Stubbs, B., Firth, J., Steiner, G., Smith, L., Alvarez-Jimenez, M., Gleeson, J., Vancampfort, D., Armitage, C., & Sarris, J. (2019). The “online brain”: how the … Continue read­ing

A study pub­lished in the National Center for Biotechnology Information high­lights this trend, emphas­iz­ing how the mul­ti­tude of online media sources vies for our atten­tion, often at the expense of our abil­ity to con­cen­trate for exten­ded peri­ods. 2Firth, J., Torous, J., Stubbs, B., Firth, J. A., Steiner, G. Z., Smith, L., Gleeson, J., Vancampfort, D., Armitage, C. J., & Sarris, J. (2019). The “online brain”: How the Internet may be … Continue read­ing

This phe­nomen­on, some­times called the ‘online brain’, raises crit­ic­al ques­tions about the long-term effects of digit­al media on cog­nit­ive func­tions, includ­ing memory and focus. 

“The human brain’s atten­tion sys­tem has evolved over time, with genet­ic vari­ations and exper­i­ence play­ing a role in indi­vidu­al dif­fer­ences in atten­tion­al effi­ciency.”
Source: Annual review of neur­os­cience 3Petersen, S., & Posner, M. (2012). The atten­tion sys­tem of the human brain. Annual review of neur­os­cience, 35, 73 – 89. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​1​4​6​/​a​n​n​u​r​e​v​-​n​e​u​r​o​-​0​6​2​111 – 150525

The broad­er implic­a­tions of our inter­ac­tion with digit­al media are fur­ther under­scored by a study in Nature Communications, which reveals a nar­row­ing of our col­lect­ive atten­tion span. 4Abundance of inform­a­tion nar­rows our col­lect­ive atten­tion span. (2019, April 15). ScienceDaily. https://​www​.sci​en​cedaily​.com/​r​e​l​e​a​s​e​s​/​2​0​1​9​/​0​4​/​1​9​0​4​1​5​0​8​1​9​5​9​.​htm

This phe­nomen­on is not just con­fined to social media; it’s a trend observed across vari­ous domains, sug­gest­ing a wide­spread cul­tur­al shift in how we con­sume and pro­cess information. 

The gradu­al decline in atten­tion spans, par­tic­u­larly over the last few dec­ades, sig­nals a press­ing chal­lenge for today’s organ­iz­a­tions. Research by Gloria Mark, PhD, from the University of California Irvine, sheds light on how our engage­ments with the inter­net and digit­al devices reshape our focus. 5Mark, G. (2023). Why our atten­tion spans are shrink­ing. American Psychological Association. https://​www​.apa​.org/​n​e​w​s​/​p​o​d​c​a​s​t​s​/​s​p​e​a​k​i​n​g​-​o​f​-​p​s​y​c​h​o​l​o​g​y​/​a​t​t​e​n​t​i​o​n​-​s​p​ans

The study’s find­ings are a wake-up call to busi­nesses and con­tent cre­at­ors, indic­at­ing that cap­tur­ing and main­tain­ing an audi­ence’s atten­tion is becom­ing more challenging. 

Despite the grow­ing con­cern over the impact of social media and the fast-paced news cycle on our atten­tion spans, a gap in empir­ic­al data per­sists. This lack of con­crete evid­ence points to the neces­sity for more rig­or­ous research to under­stand the true extent of mass medi­a’s influ­ence on cog­nit­ive func­tions. 6Abundance of inform­a­tion nar­rows our col­lect­ive atten­tion span. (2019, April 15). EurekAlert! https://​www​.eurekalert​.org/​n​e​w​s​-​r​e​l​e​a​s​e​s​/​4​9​0​177

Learn more: The Online Brain Hypothesis

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Attention Spans: More Research is Required

Although con­cerns over shortened atten­tion span due to social media and rap­id news cycles abound, they often rely on anec­dot­al obser­va­tions and smal­ler studies. 

Without robust research into how digit­al con­sump­tion affects atten­tion, pro­ductiv­ity, and con­sumer beha­viour, organ­isa­tions risk form­ing strategies based on intu­ition rather than insight. 

To move for­ward mean­ing­fully, com­pan­ies might bene­fit from col­lab­or­at­ing with aca­dem­ic insti­tu­tions or invest­ing in intern­al stud­ies to devel­op a more groun­ded under­stand­ing of atten­tion in the con­text of digit­al media. 

Such efforts would sup­port the devel­op­ment of effect­ive per­cep­tion man­age­ment strategies and con­trib­ute to the broad­er sci­entif­ic under­stand­ing of how mod­ern media envir­on­ments shape cog­nit­ive functions.

In an era where data-driv­en decision-mak­ing is para­mount, filling this empir­ic­al gap will help devel­op more effect­ive busi­ness strategies and con­trib­ute to a broad­er under­stand­ing of per­cep­tion management.

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PR Resource: Anatomy of Attention

“There’s only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.”
— Oscar Wilde

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The Anatomy of Attention

Attention is an essen­tial com­pon­ent of pub­lic relations:

  • An organ­isa­tion, starved of atten­tion, trust, and loy­alty, is com­pelled to wage a per­petu­al struggle for its con­tin­ued existence.

And it’s not just organ­isa­tions. We all seem to crave atten­tion in some form or another:

“People want to be loved; fail­ing that admired; fail­ing that feared; fail­ing that hated and des­pised. They want to evoke some sort of sen­ti­ment. The soul shud­ders before obli­vi­on and seeks con­nec­tion at any price.”
— Hjalmar Söderberg (1869−1941), Swedish author

It’s fear of social isol­a­tion— and atten­tion star­va­tion.

But what con­sti­tutes ‘atten­tion’?

“Attention is a com­plex, real neur­al archi­tec­ture (‘RNA’) mod­el that integ­rates vari­ous cog­nit­ive mod­els and brain cen­ters to per­form tasks like visu­al search.”
Source: Trends in cog­nit­ive sci­ences 7Shipp, S. (2004). The brain cir­cuitry of atten­tion. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8, 223 – 230. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​1​6​/​j​.​t​i​c​s​.​2​0​0​4​.​0​3​.​004

Each of the below terms refers to a spe­cif­ic aspect or type of atten­tion (“men­tal band­width”), a com­plex cog­nit­ive pro­cess. 8Schweizer, K., Moosbrugger, H., & Goldhammer, F. (2005). The struc­ture of the rela­tion­ship between atten­tion and intel­li­gence. Intelligence, 33(6), 589 – 611. … Continue read­ing

Let’s explore dif­fer­ent types of attention:

  • Alertness. This is the state of being watch­ful and ready to respond. It’s the most basic form of atten­tion, rep­res­ent­ing our read­i­ness to per­ceive and pro­cess inform­a­tion from the environment.
  • Sustained atten­tion. This involves focus­ing on a spe­cif­ic task or stim­u­lus over a pro­longed peri­od. It’s cru­cial for tasks that require ongo­ing con­cen­tra­tion, like read­ing or driving.
  • Focused atten­tion. This refers to the abil­ity to con­cen­trate on one par­tic­u­lar stim­u­lus or task while ignor­ing oth­ers. It’s the abil­ity to focus nar­rowly on a single thing.
  • Attentional switch­ing. Also known as task switch­ing or cog­nit­ive flex­ib­il­ity, this involves shift­ing focus from one task to anoth­er. It’s crit­ic­al for mul­ti­task­ing and adapt­ing to chan­ging demands or priorities.
  • Divided atten­tion. This is the abil­ity to pro­cess two or more responses or react to mul­tiple tasks sim­ul­tan­eously. It’s often tested by ask­ing people to per­form two tasks sim­ul­tan­eously, like listen­ing to a con­ver­sa­tion while writing.
  • Attention accord­ing to the super­vis­ory atten­tion­al sys­tem. This concept, derived from cog­nit­ive psy­cho­logy, refers to a high­er-level con­trol sys­tem that reg­u­lates the alloc­a­tion of atten­tion, par­tic­u­larly in situ­ations requir­ing plan­ning or decision-making.
  • Attention as inhib­i­tion. This aspect of atten­tion involves sup­press­ing irrel­ev­ant or dis­tract­ing stim­uli. It’s a cru­cial com­pon­ent of focused atten­tion and self-regulation.
  • Spatial atten­tion. This type of atten­tion focuses on a spe­cif­ic area with­in the visu­al field. It’s like a spot­light that enhances inform­a­tion pro­cessing in a par­tic­u­lar location.
  • Attention as plan­ning. This per­spect­ive views atten­tion as a resource that needs to be alloc­ated effi­ciently, espe­cially in com­plex tasks requir­ing stra­tegic plan­ning and organization.
  • Interference. In the con­text of atten­tion, inter­fer­ence refers to the pro­cess by which irrel­ev­ant inform­a­tion or dis­trac­tions impede the effi­ciency of cog­nit­ive processing.
  • Attention as arous­al. This con­siders atten­tion in the con­text of the gen­er­al level of alert­ness or arous­al. It’s about the read­i­ness of the brain to engage with stim­uli or tasks.
  • Attention accord­ing to the assess­ment tra­di­tion. This refers to meas­ur­ing and eval­u­at­ing atten­tion­al pro­cesses, often in clin­ic­al or edu­ca­tion­al set­tings, to identi­fy atten­tion defi­cits or disorders.

Each type of atten­tion plays a cru­cial role in how we inter­act with and pro­cess inform­a­tion from our envir­on­ment, and under­stand­ing these dif­fer­ent aspects is key in fields like psy­cho­logy, neur­os­cience, and education.

Learn more: The Anatomy of Attention

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ANNOTATIONS
ANNOTATIONS
1 Firth, J., Torous, J., Stubbs, B., Firth, J., Steiner, G., Smith, L., Alvarez-Jimenez, M., Gleeson, J., Vancampfort, D., Armitage, C., & Sarris, J. (2019). The “online brain”: how the Internet may be chan­ging our cog­ni­tion. World Psychiatry, 18. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​0​2​/​w​p​s​.​2​0​617
2 Firth, J., Torous, J., Stubbs, B., Firth, J. A., Steiner, G. Z., Smith, L., Gleeson, J., Vancampfort, D., Armitage, C. J., & Sarris, J. (2019). The “online brain”: How the Internet may be chan­ging our cog­ni­tion. World Psychiatry, 18(2), 119 – 129. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​0​2​/​w​p​s​.​2​0​617
3 Petersen, S., & Posner, M. (2012). The atten­tion sys­tem of the human brain. Annual review of neur­os­cience, 35, 73 – 89. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​1​4​6​/​a​n​n​u​r​e​v​-​n​e​u​r​o​-​0​6​2​111 – 150525
4 Abundance of inform­a­tion nar­rows our col­lect­ive atten­tion span. (2019, April 15). ScienceDaily. https://​www​.sci​en​cedaily​.com/​r​e​l​e​a​s​e​s​/​2​0​1​9​/​0​4​/​1​9​0​4​1​5​0​8​1​9​5​9​.​htm
5 Mark, G. (2023). Why our atten­tion spans are shrink­ing. American Psychological Association. https://​www​.apa​.org/​n​e​w​s​/​p​o​d​c​a​s​t​s​/​s​p​e​a​k​i​n​g​-​o​f​-​p​s​y​c​h​o​l​o​g​y​/​a​t​t​e​n​t​i​o​n​-​s​p​ans
6 Abundance of inform­a­tion nar­rows our col­lect­ive atten­tion span. (2019, April 15). EurekAlert! https://​www​.eurekalert​.org/​n​e​w​s​-​r​e​l​e​a​s​e​s​/​4​9​0​177
7 Shipp, S. (2004). The brain cir­cuitry of atten­tion. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8, 223 – 230. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​1​6​/​j​.​t​i​c​s​.​2​0​0​4​.​0​3​.​004
8 Schweizer, K., Moosbrugger, H., & Goldhammer, F. (2005). The struc­ture of the rela­tion­ship between atten­tion and intel­li­gence. Intelligence, 33(6), 589 – 611. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​1​6​/​j​.​i​n​t​e​l​l​.​2​0​0​5​.​0​7​.​001
Jerry Silfwer
Jerry Silfwerhttps://doctorspin.net/
Jerry Silfwer, alias Doctor Spin, is an awarded senior adviser specialising in public relations and digital strategy. Currently CEO at Spin Factory and KIX Communication Index. Before that, he worked at Kaufmann, Whispr Group, Springtime PR, and Spotlight PR. Based in Stockholm, Sweden.
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