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+---- Thread: Has social media ruined our attention spans? (/showthread.php?tid=6325053)
Has social media ruined our attention spans? - Mastercarder - May 7, 2026
Anyone else feel like social media and short-form content completely destroyed their attention span?
I swear even watching a full movie or reading something long feels harder now compared to a few years ago. Everything is optimized for instant dopamine now: TikTok, reels, notifications, endless scrolling, etc.
What’s weird is most people notice it happening but still keep using the apps daily anyway.
Have any of you actually managed to reverse it or improve focus again?
RE: Has social media ruined our attention spans? - Deany - May 8, 2026
Tbh I don't give a frick about SM. It's so cringe and a waste of time.
RE: Has social media ruined our attention spans? - bandors - May 8, 2026
You are already doing better than most people by using a real internet forum instead of just the same four apps as literally ALL HUMANS
RE: Has social media ruined our attention spans? - HALx86 - May 8, 2026
Yeah my memory is shot. I used to think it was from covid but now I think it's the tik tok and instagram.
RE: Has social media ruined our attention spans? - Heiko - May 8, 2026
I don’t think our attention spans are permanently ruined, but constant short-form content definitely conditions your brain to expect nonstop stimulation. What helped me was cutting down notifications, spending less time scrolling, and slowly rebuilding focus by reading or watching longer things without multitasking.
RE: Has social media ruined our attention spans? - Eran - May 8, 2026
Absolutely. I regularly uninstall most social media apps every 3ish months but when I come back it's straight back to the bad habits again.
RE: Has social media ruined our attention spans? - Edmond Dantes - May 8, 2026
I recently spent 9 months without access to internet and it made me a lot more focused. I replaced apps with books honestly.
RE: Has social media ruined our attention spans? - Roytoy - May 9, 2026
Social media as we know it will definitely be forced to change to be less addictive. The UK just passed laws to ban social media for specific ages. People have recently won lawsuits against social media companies for making their apps too addictive.
Social media usage right now is similar to how smoking was before we fully understood how bad it is for your health.
I'll keep this post to look back to when I'm proven right, and the negative effects become more known/observable.
RE: Has social media ruined our attention spans? - lupin123141 - May 12, 2026
(May 8, 2026 01:30 PM)Edmond Dantes Wrote: I recently spent 9 months without access to internet and it made me a lot more focused. I replaced apps with books honestly.
Hey, I’d like to ask how you stayed off the grid for 9 months. I had a similar stint when I started learning to code, and I remember feeling so much better back then. Somehow, I’ve ended up back in that dopamine trap. I realize there’s no magic fix and it’s all about self-discipline, but I’d love to hear your personal take on how you handled that time.
RE: Has social media ruined our attention spans? - Edmond Dantes - May 12, 2026
(May 12, 2026 05:40 AM)lupin123141 Wrote: Hey, I’d like to ask how you stayed off the grid for 9 months. I had a similar stint when I started learning to code, and I remember feeling so much better back then. Somehow, I’ve ended up back in that dopamine trap. I realize there’s no magic fix and it’s all about self-discipline, but I’d love to hear your personal take on how you handled that time.
I was in a rehab and you had no access to phone or PC there. 1 call per week from the office phone for 10 minutes with your family and thats it. Every weekend we had internet on the TV that was in the hall where we could watch movies online and youtube videos but thats it.
RE: Has social media ruined our attention spans? - Wormag - May 12, 2026
(May 7, 2026 10:29 PM)Mastercarder Wrote: Everything is optimized for instant dopamine now: TikTok, reels, notifications, endless scrolling, etc.
Absolutely bro, it's actual brainrot to a degree even scientists don't fully understand because it's all quite novel and only recently became a thing in the last ~10 years.
I'd love to see the long-term effects on the brain in say 30 years time, on how it effectively reduces your attention span and fucks with your cognitive ability.
That being said, I'm somewhat of a doom scroller myself. It's addicting and supplies a constant stream of dopamine so it's easy to fall into the trap.
RE: Has social media ruined our attention spans? - blacka - May 12, 2026
Yes definitely, especially short form content. I try to avoid it as much as I can, because as soon as I get into the habit of watching short form content I feel myself losing focus and motivation at things like studying or exercising.
(May 8, 2026 12:05 PM)Eran Wrote: Absolutely. I regularly uninstall most social media apps every 3ish months but when I come back it's straight back to the bad habits again.
Yes exactly the same for me. I uninstall and try to set restrictions on my phone for social media, which works fine for a couple of weeks but then something just happens and I fall into the trap again. Sometimes I want to remove my phone from my life entirely but that just isn't possible as you need it for everything nowadays. (and I'm not walking around with a nokia)