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The question of continuous partial attention

From Creating Passionate Users, some thoughtful analysis of the effect of constant update-itis, or the downside of intermittent rewards :

“Ironically, services like Twitter are simultaneously leaving some people with a feeling of not being connected, by feeding the fear of not being in the loop. By elevating the importance of being “constantly updated,” it amplifies the feeling of missing something if you’re not checking Twitter (or Twittering) with enough frequency.”

It’s not just Twitter, it’s the cycle of blogging and posting, then spending all your time checking websites, feeds, messages… Maybe it’s an addiction, but have you noticed how it has affected your attention span?