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? Because both production and consumption stop when we sleep, consumer capitalism does not want us to sleep.

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

Sleeplessness has become systemic rather than personal in our lives. Staying awake helps keep the wheels of capitalism turning. The fact that the Netflix CEO's statement is in line with this reality is no accident.

The attention economy is busy consuming the very resource it’s named after our attention. This may appear to be an oxymoron at first, but in reality, it makes people extremely vulnerable. It reduces our ability to make decisions and increases our vulnerability to manipulation by scattering our attention.

Persuasive Design

For over 25 years, the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab has been developing attention-grabbing “magicians.” Their magic, however, exploits human limitations, biases, and vulnerabilities rather than intelligence. It should come as no surprise to hear that Instagram, the most "magical" program in the world, was created in this same environment.

For a while now, these tools have continued performing their magic under the headline of “ethical persuasion,” allowing users to set their own limits under the heading “it could be good for you!” We're still not sure who thinks it's good.

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