associationFOCUS | Volume 8, Issue 1

How Long is the Average Human Attention Span? AND WHY DO WE CARE? A ccording to a study done in 2000, humans had an attention span of 12 seconds — only 33% longer than a goldfish at 9 seconds. That was 20 years ago. Recently, Microsoft announced that the average person's attention span is now less than a goldfish at a mere 8 seconds. Of course, the internet went completely alight, and many notable and indignant people questioned the basis of the study, the interpretation of the research, and so on. After all, who wants to think that a goldfish can focus longer on something that we can? And as a segue, what does a goldfish focus on anyway? The true scarce commodity is increasingly human attention. — Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 association FOCUS | 9