Attention Economy

“Until the nineteenth century, the lives of almost all humans were shaped primarily by the rise and fall of the sun. Our natural rhythms evolved to match it – we would get a rush of energy when it got light, and we would feel sleepy after it got dark. For almost all of human history, our ability to intervene in this cycle was pretty limited – we could light fires, but that was it. But suddenly, with the invention of the electric lightbulb, we gained the power to control the light we are exposed to – and this power has started to scramble our internal rhythms.” ⏤ Stolen Focus, Johann Hari

We can now control the sun — or so we think. And we pay for this with our sleepless nights. So, what is the reason behind this sacrifice? Consumer capitalism doesn’t want us to sleep, because when we sleep, both production and consumption come to a halt.

We’re competing with sleep, on the margin. And so, it’s a very large pool of time.

In the modern world, sleeplessness has gone beyond being an individual issue. Staying awake fuels the spinning wheels of capitalism. It’s no coincidence that the Netflix CEO’s remark aligns with this reality.

The attention economy is busy consuming the very resource it’s named after — ourattention. At first glance, this might seem like an oxymoron, but it actually creates a profound human vulnerability. By scattering our focus, it weakens our decision-making abilities and makes us more easily manipulated.

Persuasive Design

For about 25 years, the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab has been producing “magicians” who target our attention. But their magic isn’t about our intelligence; it’s about our weaknesses, prejudices, and limits. It wouldn’t be surprising to learn that Instagram, the world’s most “magical” app, emerged under the roof of this very lab.

For some time now, these tools have continued performing their magic under the guise of “ethical persuasion,” allowing users to set their own limits under the heading “it could be good for you!” Good according to whom, we still don’t know.

Pitfalls of the attention economy can’t just be avoided by logging off and refusing the influence of persuasive design techniques; they also emerge at the intersection of issues of public space, environmental politics, class, and race. ⏤ How to Do Nothing, Jenny Odell