Attention spans and the media

[Phill2]

A wise decision

[Lencoboy]

A wise decision

Absolutely.

After all, we did still manage successfully with our day-to-day lives before social media or even the Internet as a whole ever existed.

But on the other hand we obviously wouldn't be posting stuff on here if it wasn't for the Internet period!

[Lencoboy]

My friend and I were having the same conversation yesterday. It's kind of horrifying how we jump from crisis to crisis and then just forget about it. The withdrawal from Afghanistan, the war in Ukraine, etc...

2 years ago we were being told that we were gonna die due to the Covid pandemic, then earlier this year we were told that we were at risk of being blown to smithereens by Putin and Co during the Russo-Ukraine conflict, and now we're being told we're gonna starve and/or freeze to death over the coming months due to the COL crisis.

Since 2020 alone it's just been one big threat after another in the media.

[Lencoboy]

2 years ago we were being told that we were gonna die due to the Covid pandemic, then earlier this year we were told that we were at risk of being blown to smithereens by Putin and Co during the Russo-Ukraine conflict, and now we're being told we're gonna starve and/or freeze to death over the coming months due to the COL crisis.

Since 2020 alone it's just been one big threat after another in the media.

Tonight the main headline on the BBC site bore the words 'Lives at risk....' pertaining to the energy/COL crisis.

As if it's Covid all over again!

Meanwhile, talking of Covid, it has barely been covered in the main news headlines over the past couple of weeks, plus (at the time of posting this) there have been no Covid-related posts (in the Coronavirus/COVID-19 sub-section) on here since Tuesday 16th August, in which the last one, incidentally, was from me.

Also, I went for a check up at my local medical practice yesterday (Thursday 25th), in which the staff there were not only very friendly and helpful to me but also gave me permission to take my face mask off in the treatment room, and I initially thought 'What?', but on the other hand it was quite encouraging as it was implying we must now be over the worst of Covid, especially considering healthcare facilities would have probably still otherwise been considered one of the last bastions of compulsory mask-wearing!

Also, what happened to the hard-hitting warnings about climate change/global warming that the media were putting the fear of God into us over only just a few short weeks ago, especially during the colossal heatwaves?

[Lencoboy]

I've just thought of another one; deaths of celebs/major public figures.

Big news for about 2-3 days max, then pretty much 'water under the bridge' thereafter.

For instance, I vividly recall when Freddie Mercury passed away at the end of 1991 (when I was 14) it was a massive thing at the time and he was still being discussed and heavily tributed several months later, even well into 1993 in fact, plus I also recall a lot of Queen's material being given a new lease of life from December 1991 onwards, right up until the release of the posthumous 'Made In Heaven' album some 4 years later.

In fact, even the death of Her Maj last September didn't turn out to be quite the massive thing many of us had previously anticipated (unlike Princess Diana back in 1997).

Also, the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last summer now seems pretty much forgotten about.

[WiredIncorrectly]

Peoples attention span has gotten progressively worse since the invention of smart phones.

Take TikTok for example. The video content is short form. In the past video content was long form (think YouTube). People want shorter content, because their attention spans have slowly been chipped away over the years.

Peoples minds are being reprogrammed without people being aware of it.

Have you also noticed people are speaking with an upper inflection after some words? If you've seen American Pie you will remember the girl that says "This one time, at bandcamp". You can hear the upper inflections in her voice when she says it.

People in the UK are now speaking like this. It sounds so cringe when I hear people speak like this.

This is a result of TikTok. When things like this happen you could say there is a "mind virus" at play.

[WiredIncorrectly]

The upward inflection is actually called "upspeak". I've only just learned this today as I was doing some research on it. It seems the BBC had an article on it in 2014: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28708526

I'm with Stephen Fry, I dislike it

[Lencoboy]

The upward inflection is actually called "upspeak". I've only just learned this today as I was doing some research on it. It seems the BBC had an article on it in 2014: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28708526

I'm with Stephen Fry, I dislike it

That reminds me; I remember the big hoo-ha in the 2000s over youngsters speaking in 'Jafaican' patois and trying to sound all 'ard and 'gangsta'. It was sometimes associated with ch@v culture. I seem to recall many teenagers speaking like that in my area back then but don't tend to notice it quite so much these days. IMO, it was/is a blatant insult to the decent majority of Jamaicans and Black people in general who are far removed from 'gangsta'/criminal territory, most of whom I've known and met personally have been/are lovely people.

The general media attention afforded to ch@v/hoodie culture and the attendant moral panics during much of the 2000s started to die down during the early 2010s, especially after the August 2011 riots, which I think often used to provoke deviant behaviours from youngsters all the more in many respects; the so-called 'deviancy amplification spiral'.