Attention Span of Americans

Over the last few years, I have been retired and have been able to spend more time online and with posting articles or poems on my blogs.  In addition to my 4 blogs, I visit LinkedIn and Facebook, and both social media forums have the space to make brief comments and the space to post more lengthy articles of let's say around 1,000 words.  And, what I have discovered is that MOST READERS do not want to waste their time reading long posts and/or comments.

Why do you think that is?

1.  Is it because Americans really don't like to read?
2.  Is it because Americans read slowly and therefore get easily bored?
3.  Is it because reading is time consuming?
4.  Is it because Americans cannot understand complex concepts?
5.  Is it because Americans are LAZY?

When I was teaching College Students, I also discovered the same phenomenon of not having a long attention span.  My students wanted to be treated like babies, feed them little bites while explaining exactly what all the words meant.  Once I did that, they would memorize and regurgitate something similar back on a test.  This way they did not have to think at all.

With this said, I must admit that I would rather watch the movie than read the book...  but, for me that is because I read slow and want to conceptualize everything before I move on.  However, when I listen to a book, I do not have that problem and can navigate traffic while listening in the car and still maintain a high level of retention.

Each of us learn in different ways...  but reading and/or listening is key to our future success...   It is dangerous to let someone else do all the thinking for us... as we only get their impression or their interpretation of reality...  which could be wrong or misleading.