Editing Distraction (section)

==By media==
Propagandizing techniques of distraction are used in [[media manipulation]]. The idea is to encourage the public to focus on a topic or idea that the compliance professional feels is supportive of their cause. By focusing attention, a particular [[ideology]] can be made to seem the only reasonable choice. Oftentimes, media competition is the driving force for [[media bias]], manipulation, and distraction. If a media company can find an audience with a united ideology, it then develops a loyal consumer base, as its consumers will be happy with the way media is presented. A so-called "conservative" media outlet would not hire a "liberal" reporter, as they would run the risk of alienating its viewership.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stone|first=Daniel F.|date=2 February 2011|title=Ideological media bias |journal=Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization |volume=78|issue=3|doi=10.1016/j.jebo.2011.01.013|pages=256–271|s2cid=154914591}}</ref>

Distraction is also important in studies of [[media multitasking]], or the simultaneous use of multiple media at once. This [[behavior]] has emerged as increasingly common since the 1990s, especially among younger media users.<ref>{{citation|title=The MultiTasking Generation|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=March 19, 2006|first=Claudia|last=Wallis|volume=167|issue=13|pages=48–55|pmid=16579497|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1174696,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614111346/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1174696,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 14, 2006}}. Wallis describes a survey by [[Donald F. Roberts]] and others for the [[Kaiser Family Foundation]] that found that [[human multitasking|multitasking]] children were able to view media for an average of 8.5 hours inside the 6.5 hours spent interacting with electronic media.</ref> Studies show that while humans are predisposed to the desire to multitask, most people struggle to have legitimate [[productivity]] while multitasking. Instead of giving a task full attention, the split attention that multitasking necessitates can cause one task to be a distraction to another.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fenella|first=Saunders|date=December 2009|title=Multitasking to Distraction: Users of many concurrent media streams actually are less able to switch between tasks|jstor=27859416|journal=American Scientist|volume=97|issue=6|pages=455|doi=10.1511/2009.81.455}}</ref> On the other hand, some studies show that multitasking has the [[potential]] for a high-risk high-reward situation, leading to the idea that success can arise from multitasking if one is good at the activity.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sanbonmatsu|first=David M.|date=23 January 2013|title=Who Multi-Tasks and Why? Multi-Tasking Ability, Perceived Multi-Tasking Ability, Impulsivity, and Sensation Seeking|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=8|issue=1|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0054402|pmid=23372720|pages=e54402|pmc=3553130|bibcode=2013PLoSO...854402S|doi-access=free}}</ref>

[[Advertisers]] often seek to distract people and divert their attention to advertising content. This has been characterized as [[attention theft]].<ref name="Wired">{{cite magazine |last1=Wu |first1=Tim |authorlink=Tim Wu |title=The Crisis of Attention Theft—Ads That Steal Your Time for Nothing in Return |url=https://www.wired.com/2017/04/forcing-ads-captive-audience-attention-theft-crime/ |access-date=9 August 2021 |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |date=April 14, 2017}}</ref><ref name="IEEE">{{cite news |last1=McFedries |first1=Paul |title=Stop, Attention Thief! |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/stop-attention-thief |access-date=9 August 2021 |work=[[IEEE Spectrum]] |publisher=[[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]] |date=22 May 2014 |language=en}}</ref>