There seem to be two paths of attention span that started
diverging about 1960.
One path goes toward magazine style. Reading material is increasingly offered to us in small chunks -- often with the option of reading more on the subject. Think USA Today, or more accurately, the front page of the Wall Street Journal where most references are expanded on inside pages. The Internet did not invent this, it adopted it.
The other path is toward intensity and storyline. Video programming has been able to satisfy
this need with Tivo that allows us to watch programs for an hour or hours
without commercial interruption. All
the jokes about men surfing channels fell by the wayside when Tivo allowed
viewers to watch programs uninterrupted.
Blogs allow us to offer a brief introduction so we can see if the subject is relevant to our own interests and continue reading if the material warrants it.
I invite my readers to comment on these two paths. What has been happening?
Reading does seem to be the main component of one path. Most reading is non-storyline, current
events, packets of information that we can consume in the doses we want. When the reading material is storyline
related (novels, Harry Potter), we can read it intensely.
Movies and storyline TV programs seem to be the other path. We patiently watch.
We select one path, magazine style reading, to fit our needs
because it is interactive in the sense that we can take more or less as we
choose. The other path, visual
storylines, seems to be passive where we view the story and the characters as a whole and watch the
outcome.
The interactive-passive distinction seems a valid observation, but requires an explanation of the forces behind it. What’s going on?
I invite my readers to help me think this one out.
My best hypothesis is that the expanding commercial world
has permitted us more choices in life. Commerce has permitted myriad more segments of our society. The myriad segments reflect our own desire
for authenticity. One kind of
authenticity is choosing the right style of clothes, cars and possessions;
another is our choice of livelihood, our choice of avocation, friends, social
associations and what is now called lifestyle.
Our seeking authenticity leads us each in a different
direction. Our use of the media becomes more selective as in the first path
(magazine style). We gather the
information that suits us personally. The other, second path requires immersion in stories that let us
feel, delve, explore and live-out the intensity that goes with
authenticity.
Commerce has given us the horn of plenty and the horn of plenty is helping each of us to be more real, more genuine and more unique.
We are improvising our lives to our own drummer.