I Want it Now: Technology and Instant Gratification

 

Having lived through the technological revolution that brought us home computers, the internet, Google, mobile phones and social media, its sometimes difficult to reach back into the 1970s and recall the grit and determination it took to find, with authority, the current governor of Pennsylvania.  Yes, we grew up with a wonderful stack of World Book encyclopedias in our house, which I believed contained every relevant fact, (up until 1968), but that still would not necessarily give me the name of the current governor.  So, my options were to get in my car and drive to the public library, or perhaps pay for a long-distance phone call and reach out to someone in Pennsylvania, which might also mean an additional charge for information services to get the phone number. At best, I was looking at a 10-minute wait and at worst a half hour and a couple of bucks for the calls.  Now this also assumes that I was doing this research during the day, when either the library was opened, or someone was awake and available in Pennsylvania to field my call.  

Flash forward to 2024, and we have a myriad of almost instantaneous methods of determining the answer to that same question, from typing it into a computer keyboard or mobile device with the aid of any number of search engines, or through simple vocalizing, “Hey Google” or “Alexa” and having the answer spoken back to us in seconds. What amount of time are we willing to invest in order to get answers to our questions?  Well, it’s certainly no longer a half hour or 10 minutes…can you even imagine sitting in front of your computer or mobile device for a minute waiting for an answer? Today, the average time it takes to load a website on a computer is 2.5 seconds and on mobile devices is 8.6 seconds.  This all sounds pretty quick and efficient, until you realize that 53% of mobile users will leave a site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load (ThinkwithGoogle, 2020).  Think about how long your willing to wait before you leave a website.

Instant Gratification: Why are We so Impatient?

Technology has fed our desire for instant gratification.  Like Veruca Salt, the spoiled rich girl in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory cried out, "we want it, and we want it now"!  Our desire for instant gratification surrounds us, from microwave ovens to instant oatmeal to 30 minute delivery. In the information technology world, the ability to send and receive messages instantly through texts and other messaging programs, combined with the ability to search for information instantaneously through search engines has altered our expectations and limited our patience. The amount of time we are all willing to invest in seeking out information and communicating with other people has been dramatically reduced.  

The Younger the Generation, the Shorter the Attention Span

As we look at the technological impact of instant gratification on younger generations, the effects become even more apparent and more severe.   Much of the blame for this can be placed on the purposely designed, addictive characteristics of social media platforms.   Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, employ scrolling technology that encourages us to quickly and continuously move through posts, which creates a dopamine effect, stimulating the pleasure center of our brains.

Can you remember that good feeling when you received your first “like” or comment after your first post on Facebook?  I certainly do, and like billions of others, that led me to post again and again.  For younger users, who are digital natives who have never known a world without the internet, this effect is increased through the combination of smart phones and social media.  This has led to shorter attention spans, less self-control, difficulty in learning deep or complex concepts, and trouble making choices that involve long-term rewards.

How has Technology Impacted Your Desire for Instant Gratification?

The rise of the instant gratification society has affected so many aspects of our lives.  Given all of this immediate stimuli, I’ve found some of the old-time simple pleasures to be even more rewarding. Simple delayed gratification processes, like planting a seed and watching a sunflower grow into an enormous plant structure over a span of months. gives me tremendous pleasure.   I’m curious to learn how technology and instant gratification have changed your life for better or for worse.   Please share your thoughts in the comment section below…and take your time!

Additional Resources:

John Davidson does a nice job of discussing the negative effects of our instant gratification and the benefits of delayed gratification on society in this Ted Talk. 

Dr Emilio Justo takes a deeper dive into instant and delayed gratification and provides steps you can take to benefit from delayed gratification.

 References:

ThinkwithGoogle. (2020, September 3). Mobile Page load 07. Think With Google. https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/consumer-trends/mobile-site-load-time-statistics/