Is Social Media Stealing Our Focus?
Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
By Despoina Stylidou | YLIN Health Coaching
How the Scroll Culture Impacts Attention—and What We Can Do About It
Have you ever said, "Let me decompress a bit and check social media for a few minutes," only to realise an hour has gone by? Suddenly, you're caught in an endless loop of videos, memes, or fridge restocking clips. You're not alone.
It's become increasingly common to struggle with watching a film without checking our phones at least once. A 2021 study found that smartphone viewers are more susceptible to external distractions, leading to reduced engagement and comprehension during movie watching. This phenomenon, often referred to as "popcorn brain," highlights how our constant exposure to digital media fragments our attention and diminishes our capacity for deep focus.
The Era of Instant Everything
Platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts thrive on quick hits of entertainment. They're designed to deliver instant gratification, making our brains crave constant novelty.
While this makes content more addictive, it also makes traditional focus harder to maintain. Studies have shown that attention spans are getting shorter, with one popular Microsoft study revealing that the average human attention span dropped to just 8 seconds, shorter than a goldfish’s.
What’s Happening in Our Brains?
Every swipe and scroll activates the brain’s reward system by releasing dopamine—the feel-good chemical. Over time, this creates a loop where we crave more stimulation, often without even noticing it.
Researchers have compared this effect to digital sugar: sweet, satisfying, and very addictive. Like sugar, too much of it affects our long-term health, especially our ability to focus and regulate impulses.
The Impact on Young Minds
Children and teens are growing up in a fully digital world, with screens often replacing downtime, play, and even face-to-face conversations.
"The Internet is an interruption system. It seizes our attention only to scramble it.” — Nicholas Carr
This matters. The prefrontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for focus and self-regulation—continues developing into our mid-20s. High screen time in childhood has been linked to reduced attention, lower information retention, and higher levels of anxiety and depression.
What Can We Do?
The good news? Attention isn’t lost forever. Like a muscle, it can be trained. Here are some gentle ways to reclaim your focus:
1. Create Digital Boundaries
Limit screen time—especially on “endless scroll” apps. Even a 30-minute daily reduction can improve mental clarity.
2. Schedule Deep Focus Time
Block out time each day where you work, read, or create without interruptions. Put your phone in another room!
3. Welcome Boredom
Boredom is not a bad thing—it’s space. Space for creativity, reflection, and being present.
4. Be a Role Model
If you’re a parent, your kids are watching. Show them what healthy tech use looks like.
5. Use Social Media Intentionally
Follow accounts that uplift, unfollow those that drain, and take regular breaks. Curate your feed with your wellbeing in mind.
6. Engage in Tech-Free Activities with Loved Ones
Invite your closest friends and family to join you on this journey. Organise dinner evenings where phones are set aside, or plan activities like board games or nature walks that encourage connection without electronics.
Looking Ahead
Attention is one of our most valuable resources. Let’s protect it, not just for ourselves, but for the generations to come. By being more conscious of our scrolling habits, we create room for clarity, connection, and deep presence in our everyday lives.
Because life’s best moments don’t happen through a screen, they happen when we’re truly here.
References
McSpadden, K. (2015, May 14). You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish. Time. Retrieved from https://time.com/3858309/attention-spans-goldfish/
Szita, K., & Rooney, B. (2021). The Effects of Smartphone Spectatorship on Attention, Arousal, Engagement, and Comprehension. i-Perception, 12(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/2041669521993140
Montag, C., & Diefenbach, S. (2018). Towards Homo Digitalis: Important Research Issues for Psychology and the Neurosciences at the Dawn of the Internet of Things and the Digital Society. Sustainability, 10(2), 415. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10020415
Twenge, J. M., Joiner, T. E., Rogers, M. L., & Martin, G. N. (2018). Increases in Depressive Symptoms, Suicide-Related Outcomes, and Suicide Rates Among U.S. Adolescents After 2010 and Links to Increased New Media Screen Time. Clinical Psychological Science, 6(1), 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167702617723376
Carr, N. (2010). The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. W. W. Norton & Company.
