[roneesh]

I don't think anything is wrong with you. I've talked with lots of friends (devs and not), who have noticed their attentions have changed over time. I don't think it's causation that your attention has eroded with the rise of social media, just a correlation from the times you happen to live in. I suspect people in the 50's lamented vinyl eroding their ability to practice music for hours on end.

I think the ability to concentrate on one task singularly is really a gift the young get. I can't think of a single friend who has ever said it has gotten better over time. Enjoy the positive changes that come with age though. The ability to reason more objectively, the ability to control your emotions, the ability handle defeat and disappointment with grace, and the ability to plan larger things. Your body and mind change with age.

[yodon]

Everyone ages cognitively at a different rate, but unless you're approaching 70, which I doubt, that loss of ability to concentrate you're experiencing is unlikely to be physical. If you're under 30 and you're feeling you've already lost significant ability to concentrate you probably want to do a deep rethink on how you allow web/mobile/social media/etc to impact you. It's hard to cut back, because those distractions are an actual addiction.

[jarboot]

Thanks for this post. It's really comforting as a young adult.