Ever since someone picked up a fidget spinner and said "hey, this is cool", the fidget trend has been spreading like wildfire: from schools to offices and all the way to fidget spinning hobby groups. There's a pretty big chance that the person sitting next to you is secret fidget spinner (don't look). It has come to a point where people are getting together after work to spin and see whose fidget spins the longest (not a dirty joke), hailing the one with the longest spinning toy as fidget king. But, jokes aside, why does it matter how long a fidget spinner can spin for - and does it matter at all?

"The toy has been advertised as helping people who have trouble focusing or fidgeting (such as those with ADHD, autism, or anxiety) by acting as a release mechanism for nervous energy or stress. Experts disagreed on this claim, with some supporting it while others disputd its scientific basis and argued the toy may actually be more distracting."

----- From Wiki

As the paragraph says, this toy is advertised to help people who have ADHD, autism, or anxiety to concentrate or release stress. Does it really work? We don't know for sure. What we do know is how and when a fidget spinner was first introduced. Catherine Hettinger patented the design in the '90s in Florida to help children with ADHD and autism channel restless energy and concentrate. Her patent expired in 2005, but the idea of a fidget toy was quickly taken up by brothers Mark and Matthew McLachlan who brought it to a market with a $6 million Kickstarter campaign for fidget cubes last year. By Christmas, fidget spinners were named the "must-have office toy for 2017" by Forbes.

So, we know that the original purpose of the toy was to help people find peace of mind rather than making it a competitive sport. And this is how the toy got its name too - "fidget spinner".

In this sense, how long a fidget spinner can spin is not a factor at all. It can be even argued that the slower it spins, the more relaxing it is. It's just a toy to relax and keep your mind off the negative things in life.

As we now know a fidget was created with a very noble cause in mind. But its popularity has brought it way beyond that. Do most people who own fidget spinners today suffer from ADHD? Probably not. Fidget spinner tricks videos have been gathering millions of views on YouTube with most people people welcoming the new gadget as just another toy to obsess about. Spin it on your finger, throw and catch it between your hands, balance it on your nose...The list of newly-discovered fidget spinner applications goes on and on.

If you are a competitive person by nature, then you've probably already tried out all of the above, climbing higher and higher up the invisible fidget spinning career ladder. And you may have taken part in the ever-so-popular contests of how long you can spin a fidget spinner for. Does it matter if you come out a winner? This is only for you to decide. But you know what they say - "it's not about winning or losing, it's the fidget friends you make along the way" :-)

Unless you aim to become the next Tony Hawk of fidget spinning, the short answer is no. The toy is designed to be fidgeted with - not to spin on the desk next to a mobile phone timer with several pairs of anxious eyes watching it carefully. Doesn't seem that much fun, or, for that matter, relaxing, does it?

Related: How to select a long spin time fidget spinner

Before having actually played with a fidget spinner, I thought I'd care about spin time - just like the YouTube videos have taught me. But having spent some time spinning and with access to a variety of different fidget spinner models (thanks, GearBest!), I've realized that I couldn't care less. I genuinely enjoy the relaxing fun it brings me and attempting to replicate some of the popular tricks - but that's pretty much it. I can see myself caring about things like material and design - but not spin time. But hey, that's just me.

For fidget spinner collectors, the design, material, and bearings would be the three key things to consider.