Do people today really have shorter attention spans?
Well, it appears that because multiple messages bombard us daily, we mentally “delete” those we don’t currently need. (This explains why some folks forget what they had for breakfast, or why I call so many of my friends “Pal.”) Latest reports – compiled by scientists who pay attention – set the average adult attention span at only eight minutes. It’s reportedly even shorter if you’re a rabbit, and shorter still if you’re a roaming animal, like a rabbit with amnesia.
The key to getting attention, research says, is to appeal to as many senses as possible. If we can see something, hear it, and have a chance to “talk back” to it (such as responding to a message by typing a response), we’re more likely to retain it.