I’m reading this novel called Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart, the author of The Russian Debutante’s Handbook and Absurdistan. It takes place a decade or so from now in tech-mad America. Everywhere in the ruined urban landscape, people are connected to constant data streams via their äppäräti – devices they use to scan content, quickly getting just the gist of everything from the latest news to the desirability scores of the people around them. Reading is mocked as antiquated. Beautiful is the new smart.
It’s an exaggerated satire, to be sure. But, it’s rooted in a core belief that many of us share – the internet is killing our attention spans. People consume just enough. They scan and sample, bouncing from one thing to the next.
That belief leads us to write ever-shorter web pages, dice content down to tweet length, and generally shortcut our best ideas for easier consumption.
