The Dwindling Human Attention Span (Infographic)

Imagine you have an exam tomorrow, and you have one day to prep for it. You sit at your study table and open your books, but as soon as you do that, you suddenly feel like checking your Facebook, so you pick up your phone. After scrolling for a minute or two, you start playing PUBG.

Well, this scenario is very common and happens all the time to all of us. But have noticed the quick shift in attention and the inability of humans to focus on one thing for a long time. The problem: our shortening attention span. This is what this blog is all about.

What is the average attention span?

Take it as the amount of time you can concentrate on one particular activity or thing. With every passing day, the average human attention span is getting shorter. It might be surprising for you to know that the average attention span of a human being is just 8.25 seconds. Unbelievable, right?

What’s more shocking is it’s shorter than the attention span of a goldfish, phew! What on earth is wrong with us?

In fact, between 2000 and 2015, the typical human’s attention span decreased by about a quarter, putting us further below the lowly goldfish (how pathetic) in our inability to maintain concentration on a single job or object.

If you can keep your attention span long enough, please check out the infographic down below and share your thoughts with us.

Significant Human Attention Span Statistics

It is very sad to state, but a recent research has revealed we humans are inferior to tiny goldfish when it comes to the ability to pay attention and focus on a particular task. Some even suggest that attention spans decrease when we come off age. This raises a question, do we really have better attention span during childhood, and what is the attention span of most children?

To answer these questions, let’s take a look at some of the other findings regarding human attention span. Plus, a child’s attention span varies during their years. Therefore, to add further context to our discussion, we’ll also delve into attention span by age.

• Recent research indicates that the typical human has an attention span of about 8.25 seconds, 4.25 seconds shorter than in 2000.

• Our capacity to concentrate on one thing is not more than nine seconds. It has declined by approximately 25% between the years 2000 and 2015, putting us well behind them.

• In a study, researchers found that the average attention span of 14 years old children ranges from 28 minutes to 42 minutes.

• A 16-year-attention old’s span is between 32 and 48 minutes, and why it won’t be. Have you seen the number of distractions present in this era? I feel pity.

• The typical human being has an attention span of only 8 seconds, yet the lowly goldfish can keep their focus for 9 seconds; this one was quite shocking for me.

• 25% of teenagers cannot recall key information about their immediate circle of friends and family members. After all, they only remember using social media. So, teenager attention span is declining.

• Human beings are so forgetful that 7% of the population fails to remember their own birthday. (How is that even possible, how can someone forget their birthday, damn!)

• In the past week, 39% of Americans have either forgotten something fundamental or lost something they rely on often.

• We get so easily distracted that according to one study, the average employee checks their inbox 11 times each hour which means after every two minutes, WOW!

• The typical person makes about 1,500 phone calls every week, or about once every 5.5 minutes, no wonder why our mobile bills are so high!

• We love using phones. We can spend hours scrolling feeds, but we will not read two pages of a book. According to a research, we humans spend an average of 3.16 hours each day.

• What about videos? Well, people spend, on average, 2.7 minutes. Hmm, this is something you can make use of. Let’s discuss it in depth later.

• If given the option, 59% of C-suite executives would rather watch a video than reading written content.

This was definitely an eye-opening bumpy ride. All the researches are appalling, but yeah, that’s what it is.

But, there’s something that piques my interest, and that is the consumption of video content. It seems like people prefer to watch than read.

Though it might not be good news for writers but marketers can use this medium of communication to get favorable results.

Do women have higher attention span than men?

The argument that women usually have longer attention spans than men seems exaggerated. As per the National Institute of Health, there’s no clear evidence on how gender differences may have impact on longer attention span.

The Changing Habits of Humans and How Marketers Can Make the Most of Them

Well, as we have mentioned earlier, video content has gained a lot of attention in the past few years. From startups to large enterprises, all are jumping on this bandwagon to make ends meet.

Previously, companies used to create written content to lure their prospects. Now they are using videos and getting better results. Why so?

Let’s think from a consumer perspective. When you visit a website to purchase a product, what will you prefer, reading long, boring descriptions or watching a video that has showcased the product in action?

Of course, the VIDEO!

There’s a very evident reason behind this choice. People are always looking for things that are easy to understand, and video is one of those formats that are very easy to digest.

In addition, it provides our eyes a break from the overwhelming amount of textual information available online. This would explain why billion of hours are spent watching videos on platforms like YouTube every day.

Being a marketer, you should have a complete understanding of the power of video. It’s a marketing tool that can do wonders only if it is created with finesse.

When people are spending such a huge amount of time watching videos, it means they love videos.

You can take advantage of videos and use them for your own good.

For some, it’s quite surprising to know videos have a huge potential to skyrocket conversion rates. They not only help in grabbing the attention of the audience but motivate them to take action (purchase, subscribe, etc.).

Video is also easy to access for anybody with an internet connection, making it ideal for both viewing and making.

Even though there is a growing need for higher quality video in the business world, newbies can easily produce their own video in under an hour using only a laptop and some basic software.

But there’s a catch. Since everyone is producing video content, now the attention has been again divided, so what can be done to stand out?

Well, there are a couple of things that you need to take care of when creating a marketing video for your prospective. Let’s dive in to find out what these are.

How to make a video that stands out

• As you know, the adult attention span is less than 8 seconds, so you need to engage within the first 5 seconds of your video. The beginning of your video should be so unique and interesting that it instantly hooks your audience.

• Your video will compete with hundreds of thousands of other videos. The thumbnail you use to represent your video is one of the factors that might increase your views. Make it stand out, make it your own, and make it fascinating. If it piques people’s interest, you’ll get more views. Clicks=views.

• Just be yourself. You know we humans are different from each other. Imply this phenomenon in your videos. Add your own personal touch to it so you’ll have no issues standing out from the crowd. Remember, humans, are very clever. They can easily notice what’s ‘FAKE’ very quickly.

• Add in a lot of emotion. Having an emotional connection or relationship to something on screen makes it more valuable than anything else. People will remember you if you can make them laugh or weep. As a narrative can only evoke so much emotion, the combination of your graphics and music plays a significant part here.

• Keep your video short and sweet. This is quite important. As you know, we humans have a shorter attention span, so there’s no need to create long videos. The ideal video length is 2 minutes, so you better stick to it. If you’re someone who is creating stories, then you can cross the threshold; otherwise, we suggest you stick to the guidelines.

What’s Next?

As we now know, the human attention span is shorter than a tiny goldfish, it’s important to produce content for marketing on this basis.

Go for a clear, crisp, and precise approach if you’re still sticking to textual content marketing.

However, if you’re jumping on the bandwagon of video marketing, I strongly suggest you incorporate the above-mentioned elements to make your video stand out in the digital marketing realm.

We hope you have enjoyed reading this insightful blog. We’ll be back with more.

Till then, stay tuned and explore our hive of animation. We suggest you to give a read to these helpful additional resources related to professional video marketing:

• Importance of Video in the Digital Marketing Space