My students surprised me this week when unprompted they complained about a world that is forcing them to lose focus – The popular app TikTok was mentioned – I had to be revived!

And there was great sentiment that they are being played by those who want their business in the attention economy.

It got worse (I mean better) – one student said she deleted her TikTok app a few months ago and has read three books since (the most in years, she says).  Others admitted downplaying their time on the addictive app.

Some thought that their younger siblings were in worse shape and called them “iPad faces” because of parents and schools rushing the use of digital devices.

I came away with the thought that perhaps we’re all being played for fools by people and companies accentuating increasingly short attention spans.