ONE MEMORY from our younger years in school is that of the teacher’s admonition for us to “please pay attention.” The observed restlessness and inattention of children in the classroom show that they are distracted. They need to be brought back to the lessons at hand and stay focused.
It is seen as a sign of intelligence, or maybe just perseverance, both attributes helpful in his adult life, when a child exhibits a sustained attention span demonstrated by a quiet demeanor and even the taking down of notes. (How do you pronounce that, Sir?)
The opposite of this virtue of paying attention is deemed a learning disability, known as “attention deficit.” This is displayed in a child never completing an activity, whether it is reading or engaging in a video game. Getting easily distracted and moving restlessly from one unfinished task to another characterizes this condition.
A child’s ability to pay attention is seen as the key to discipline and getting good grades in school. Never mind if the subject and its delivery is boring. Attentive listening and quiet analysis of cause and effect are part of becoming a responsible person and a dependable colleague. Even later as an adult, the individual is bombarded by the plea to pay attention.
Putting the burden of paying attention on the listener, or “consumer,” can no longer be presumed.
Attention now needs to be earned. The challenge of the provider of information or seller of goods and ideas is how to deserve the attention of the consumer. The attention span is short and getting even shorter in the digital age.
The challenge to the supplier (or seller) of an opinion or a service is to keep the consumer’s attention engaged, and to establish this quickly.
Is it observation based on experiments that has established that the attention span of the most attractive market segment (age 18-25) is a mere six seconds? The compulsion to stay glued to some content offering must be immediately earned. The smartphone or tablet, the gadgets of choice nowadays, are equipped to zap out boredom with a swipe of the screen. (Time’s up. Next.)
Maybe this impatience with long-winded presentations has extended to higher age groups. The highest age segment is even prone to sleep even before a presentation starts. The oldies are asked to snore quietly.
Traditional media used to time the attention span of the target market of viewers and news readers on a crisis being covered. A maximum of seven days for a subject or personality staying on the front page above the fold for newspapers (Remember those?) had been established. After that some other topic shoves the previous one off to the inner pages then off the newspaper and TV altogether.
Has social media shortened the public’s attention span when it comes to a recurring topic like corruption and patronage politics? Are there new topics that now rattle the cage of attention seekers? The numbers in recent scandals are bigger. And there are more suitcases of cash involved.
There is some advantage in slowing things down and going back to the demand side of the “attention economy.” We need to stretch our attention span and keep the pressure going on some issues that continue to pop up on the radar screen of our social media.
In conversations over dinner, there is no pressure to keep anyone’s attention from drifting. (Please put down your phones and listen to me.) There are no slides or visuals to depend on for maximum attention, only hand gestures and expletives, maybe with some table-pounding. There may be some interruptions (get to the point) to move the table conversation along. No touch screen can switch this channel. Repetition is allowed. And leaving the dining table before dessert is impolite — I must make a call.
Normal conversation is not obliged to keep attention from straying. There is no six-second timer to change the subject.
What about public engagement and keeping track of social issues? Paying attention in this case requires giving up complacency and getting engaged in some advocacy to improve the social milieu and the economy.
When corruption scandals break out, there is always the question of how the crooks got away with their crimes for so many years. When they were amassing real estate and buying airplanes, was anybody paying attention?
Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda
