Turning the Table on the Attention Economy
Must we resign ourselves to unceasing exploitation, or is it possible to take the power back?
While researching this post, I noticed that most of the articles describing the attention economy seemed to presume that the current approach was the only possible approach. These articles were simply reporting and analyzing reality, what we all experience each time we open an app and start scrolling. But what about considering other forms that the attention economy could take? The initial path chosen by tech giants is certainly the most familiar, but I’ve seen a bit of rebellion out there as well.
If there is more than one way to skin a cat, there is probably more than one way to approach the attention economy. How we move into the future, and what that future looks like, is up to us. Kind of. Or at least, I hope so.
What is the Attention Economy?
The attention economy is pretty basic and at the same time insanely complex.
Since economies are essentially a way of organizing and tracking limited resources, the attention economy exists in relation to a very limited resource: your attention.
In the past, the economy was based upon scarcity of products; there were fewer products being made, fewer marketing opportunities, and limited shelf space in fewer retail outlets. In the past, getting an education was difficult and access to information was not available to everyone. Information was perhaps one of the most limited of resources.
Herbert Simon first theorized the concept of the attention economy in 1971, foreseeing that by making it easier to access an increasing amount of information, we would create a scarcity of attention available to consume it. Back then, TV was free, there were only a few channels, and commercial air time was rather limited. There were fewer newspapers and radio stations as well. Advertisements were present, but they were not especially time consuming.
We then progressed into a time when consumers were required to pay for cable or satellite TV if they wanted increased variety, yet were still forced to endure advertising. In this way, we paid with our dollars and we paid with our time and attention. The introduction of smartphones had a massive impact as well. Our phones do not intrinsically provide structure or a time limit like television does; we are free to move from site to site quickly, each move presenting new opportunities for pop up advertisements.
Today, there are more TV channels, streaming services and online news sources than I have time to count. So much content is available that some providers are struggling to collect fees; think of all the apps launched by TV networks that collect additional fees for access to their premium content. Music streaming services allow two options: free access with ads and limited functionality or paid access without ads and full functionality. This influx of content has altered our behavior; we must choose where we want to spend our time and we’re more likely to pay for only our niche interests.
There is an overload of content but our attention remains just as limited.
Social Media and the Attention Economy.
Social media platforms have ushered in the golden era of the attention economy. But hey, at least social media platforms are free. Facebook is free, right? Yes, but not really. They say that if something is free then you must be the product. It is certainly true in this case, but explaining how will require its own post. Your attention is one of the most valuable commodities on the market. If you are not paying with your dollars, you are paying with your very valuable, very limited time and attention.
Participation on social platforms introduces a slew of concerns along with obvious benefits.
Social media is great for families or friends who wish to remain close even when they are separated geographically. They are a great tool for connecting and making arrangements with those who share interests, like a local beach cleanup. These platforms have connected people that may never have met without them.
There are drawbacks as well; social media is very addictive. It also pulls our attention away from the real world, weakening our connection with nature and even other people. It can also be damaging to the psyche; there are many examples of this, especially amongst young people. And don’t even get me started on that very low bar that people are willing to crawl under to get a few likes.
Social media has placed a magnifying glass on the attention economy and its role in all of our lives. Sadly, as the public was not welcomed into the discussion, important decisions were made by very few of us. We live in a world where exploitation for profit is commonplace, and big tech did not start any new trends. The public has been left struggling to identify the effects of social media on society. Studying this new frontier further limits our time and attention, so those who seek to exploit us are not going to offer much encouragement or assistance.
In fact, your attention is so valuable that entire industries focus on how to capture and keep it for as long as possible. Manifestations of this are those pesky algorithms that everyone is always going on about or AI used for targeting. The goal is to determine, based upon mountains of data you’ve generated, how to entice you, specifically. They want to send you something that will hook you. Psychological tactics are used to promote addictive tendencies which are then refined to appeal to you. That is why one person’s Instagram reel suggests mainly cute animal videos and painting tutorials while someone else’s features sports updates and barbecue tips.
That’s all good and well, but we still have a big problem. Why are these entities fighting over who will get paid for our attention? How, if we possess such a desirable commodity, we are not compensated for it? Apple makes great computers and we pay for them. BMW won’t let you drive off the lot until you make arrangements to pay them. Yet, somehow, we are not payed for our time.
Getting Paid for Your Time.
The current model works well for corporations, but not so well for everyone else. Luckily, there are some who wish to take a stab at leveling the playing field. One idea being explored is decentralized protocols. Rather than centralized control, like you see at Facebook or YouTube, these systems would look to a protocol to resolve issues involving censorship or free speech. This removes the need for policing and the potential for manipulating by those like Zuckerburg and his crew.
Jack Dorsey of Twitter fame was instrumental in the launch of a decentralized social network protocol called BlueSky. BlueSky would provide an arena for various applications, such as Twitter, to intermingle. The benefit here is that there is no central point of control; each application would be able to control only the content under its umbrella and would not have influence over other participants or platforms.
This allows for open source competition, which tends to weed out the weakest practices. Anyone could design their own filters or interfaces, and in a competitive market, the best of them would rise to the top. This model encourages innovation and shifts power away from those who have had the nerve to deem themselves worthy of policing free speech online.
So, how does this relate to the attention economy, and more specifically, being paid for our time? The answer leads us back to Mr. Dorsey and others who have joined the quest to decentralize the web. The Brave browser, which is an alternative to Google, allows you to scour the web for information without distortion. On Brave, you are able to simply search through data rather than searching through the data that Google thinks you should have.
Brave supports a multi platform token called Basic Attention Token (BAT). Users like you and me are paid for our attention in BAT, if we choose to participate. You can use Brave without opting into using BAT. BAT can be converted into other forms of currency.
Because the system is decentralized, you maintain your privacy while earning BAT. The system goes further to allow content creators to earn revenue from the ads we’re paid to watch, user contributions and tips. Advertisers win too as they are informed of their ad’s effectiveness, but without our personal data being part of the equation.
If you’re worried that BAT is some sketchy new cryptocurrency, note that they boast over 50 million monthly users. Point being, they are a growing community. There is also potential, while not an option currently, that BAT could one day be utilized on other browsers. This would certainly increase its attractiveness and perhaps, its value. You could become the newest user today, if you wanted to.
I decided that I wanted to. It was an easy transition; I logged into all my regular subscription sites and saved the passwords, organized my bookmarks, etc., and I was up and running.
I had broken away from Google a while back, and was using Duck Duck Go. For the most part, things seemed the same. The primary difference I had noticed was the map feature, which seemed inferior to Google’s. I also found a few glitches with pop up blockers and was not able to share my Wordle results with others. While these were not big issues, and probably could have been addressed by a more tech savvy user, I was curious to see if Brave would work better for me. So far, Brave has been running rather quickly and smoothly; I have not noticed any issues with pop up blocking and I can share my Wordle. More important to me is the map feature, which is, in my opinion, very good.
All in all, opting into BAT and using a new browser has had no impact on my day to day life. If anywhere, the change has been most noticeable in my head. I am excited to participate in this experiment and I am eager to see what else might be possible. If there is public interest in this alternative paradigm, I may see my earned BAT become quite valuable in the future. If people prefer the existing model, or more likely if they aren’t aware of how easily they can switch to a new one, my BAT may not amount to much. Since I’m not expecting BAT to fund my retirement, I don’t really have anything to lose either way.
Obviously, the attention economy is a vast subject that is very relevant to our societal development. Like anything else, it takes some time and research to fully understand what it is and the implications of how it might change our daily lives. Technology will probably keep surprising us with new opportunities, so it is important to become part of the discussion to prevent further exploitation. It is for each of us to decide how we’d like to participate.
If you decide to join me in turning the tables on the attention economy, please do share your experience in the comments. I’d also be curious to learn about any similar or related projects out there, so please feel free to share those as well.