Instant gratification: a decline in our attention and a rise in digital disinformation

With the advent of the Internet, social media, and other digital technologies, our attention spans have evolved. Many of us are no longer able to concentrate on a singular task, like reading a book, as we once were. We are constantly being bombarded with an influx of information daily, and must not only navigate this expansive information landscape, but learn to recognize disinformation within it. This report explores the connection between our attention spans, deep reading, and disinformation through examining the ways in which our shortened attention has hindered our deep reading abilities and made us more susceptible to disinformation tactics. The goal of this project is to explore the ways in which these factors are connected, and to suggest proposed solutions for information professionals in both the library and user experience design sectors specifically, to better address the issues around attention, reading, and disinformation.