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Andrew Crawford
Scott Merrow
WRIT 1301
September 22, 2014
Like Eating Snacks, Multitasking is something to Pass Time.
S. Craig Watkins Fast Entertainment and Multitasking in an Always-On World
argues against technology because of its ability to generate an easy distraction by
promoting multitasking and fast-pace entertainment. Watkins thesis states, Like fast
food, fast entertainment is easy to get, all around us, and typically cheap, but not always
good for you (143). Watkins is accurate that multitasking should be avoided when doing
tasks that require full attention such as driving and doing homework.
Watkins focuses on the effects of multitasking and the accessibility of fast
entertainment. To start, he directly states that technology is growing fast, its all around
and easy to access. Snack Culture summarizes his introduction and leads into the next
main point he makes, that like snacks, technology is now in bite size information,
yielding instant gratification. ITunes, YouTube and Yahoo are all recognized in the essay
for their contributions to fast entertainment, ranging from video clips to news articles.
Next, Watkins addresses his audience, by informing young people that They multitask
habitually and according to many observers, they also do it instinctively (145). With this
quote, Watkins acknowledges that he isnt oblivious to the normality of multitasking
among young people.
Watkins then shifts from stating facts to him forming arguments against
multitasking. By this point in his essay, he has put forth a guide informing that young

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people are media rich and fast entertainment is always around them. The repercussions of
multitasking are highlighted in the proceeding paragraphs with research show by Watkins
such as doing several things at once actually reduces task efficiency and proficiency
(147, 148) and there was a statistically significant delay in executing the second task
(148). After displaying the negative side effects of multitasking on the performance of the
tasks, Watkins points out the sociological implications of multitasking. He points out that
young people who multitask are conditioning their brains to access, manage and process
information without fully retaining and comprehending the information. Along with
impaired learning, multitasking while doing tasks that require full attention can be
detrimental to society. Watkins refers to multitasking in the car and how it produces
accidents and causes death. The last main point in the essay is about continuous partial
attention (CPA). CPA is problematic because peoples attention quickly shifts from one
place to another, which only allows people to work efficiently when dealing with short
segments of material. Watkins concludes by asserting that multitasking promotes shortterm memory and wisdom is lost.
Watkins claims that Multitasking has real-life implications both for our brains
and our world (149), a point that needs emphasizing. I understand, as Watkins
accentuates, avoiding all multitasking while driving because I made that mistake while in
the drivers seat during my sophomore year of high school. Looking at my phone to read
a text message, my attention went away from the road and within seconds my car had hit
a patch of ice and I slid into a bank of snow, damaging my car. In an instant, the situation
took a turn for the worse and I learned a valuable lesson that distracted driving would
never be worth the risk. Ironically, last night, I tried writing an essay on the negative

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effects of multitasking while Skyping at the same time. I could only write an introduction
paragraph in an hour, forcing me to miss a lecture the following morning to finish my
paper. Avoiding multitasking is difficult for our generation who do it habitually and
instinctively, both of which signify the volume that young people media multitask as
Watkins points out.
In conclusion, Watkins wants a few different points to resonate with his audience.
He proves people dont comprehend the material while multitasking; they are putting it
into their short-term memory. Most importantly, he proclaims that multitasking has
negative consequences during worthy attention tasks. I agree with Watkins as
multitasking has proven to cause detrimental ramifications.

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Works Cited
S. Craig Watkins. Fast Entertainment and Multitasking in an Always-On World.
Maasik, Sonia, and J. Solomon Fisher. Signs of Life in the U.S.A.: Readings on
Popular Culture for Writers. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2012. Print.