Mass media and internet have no boundaries to connect, communicate and engage a heterogeneous audiences. The repercussions of the advent of technology in mass media communication have had far-fetched effects across the world. From the level of consumption of news in print to the exposure of TV advertisements, to the enormous usage of social networking and the the boom of internet- have led to various social, economic and political changes. The world is getting shorter, smarter and closer; with technology, communications and the burst of 'breaking news' phenomenon to a gamut of social media opportunities- the attention span of people has definitely decreased, but the overall effect has been definitely positive.
Today, with the use of smartphones that connect us to different parts and aspects of the world, people can easily focus on ten important things and multi-task simultaneously. For instance, a CEO of a company can attend a symposium, network with other participants, share a tweet with his followers and take important business decisions worth thousands of dollars just by responding to an official mail. Simultaneously, he could also chat with his wife or read about news from the other part of the world. Since there is a sea of information on the internet, crores of people registered on networking sites and a galaxy of various articles, blogs, videos, games, news, books, places- you name it and you find it there- to choose from.
Therefore, prioritisation is the key to maintain sanity and keep up with the growing world. From the history of WWI to the political campaigns of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the internet offers everything you wish to see. Attention spans are highly specific to the individuals who are consuming the news, and hence, can vary. By exonerating the hypothesis, research posits that though the attention span has decreased due to the presence of variety of information, people have smartly started utilising the tools of internet and social media according to their needs. In reality, news publications, TV production houses and the media industry on a whole, also works on the 'Uses and Gratification Theory' of mass communication that focuses on sharing information the users want to read or consume.
To conclude, mass media and internet have definitely brought the world closer with a basket of information options that gratify the users. The users have a knack of sorting information, following campaigns and sharing intelligent updates according to their interests. Though the attention span has decreased, the advent of new media technology have led the world to a new and positive era of communication, digital age of information-sharing and a more close-knit exhaustive world of digitisation.
