I've always blamed TV for the loss of attention span - passive consumption. The internet, usually, is (more) active consumption, although you can make the point that it delivers in small packets.
Might be symptomatic of life in general, as people put out less effort to do anything - serious reading, like serious anything, requires some effort.
Internet consumption isn't, at present, very active; it's voluminous. There's so ridiculously much to consume, I find I'm growing impatient merely because I must demand density to get through the mass. This is a problem for me, since I'm not convinced dense stuff sticks.
Might be symptomatic of life in general, as people put out less effort to do anything - serious reading, like serious anything, requires some effort.