The Attention Economy What is the attention economy? A business - PDF document

The Attention Economy  What is the attention economy? A business model where you (as the company) want to hold the user’s attention as much as possible. Attention is treat like a scarce resource  What are ethical issues that have emerged with the attention economy? o Data privacy (for later) o What happens to users well-being? How addictive is it? o Truth of websites o Targeting increasingly younger kids? o Shorter attention spans for kids and adults  What are Tech hijacks that the attention economy uses to hijack users’ minds? o Forced navigation:  Forcing users to see certain content. Not unlike seeing ads on tv o Slot machine / bottomless bowls / instant gratification  Addiction to getting more of something e.g. likes, information o False naming  Deceptive practices to get people to click on links o Targeted ads  Targets compulsive buyers and overly susceptible population  Can’t opt out  Diversify ads to pretend like there is more out there  Storage of private information

 False sponsorship; affiliated links; anyone can pay for ads to show up on Facebook, which can deceive the general public  Targets extreme views and extreme views get more extreme o Fear of missing out  People feel obligated to have social media  Increase in depression and suicide in young people  Fear of commitment just in case something else better comes along  Only seeing the “highlights” or a fake sense of missing out o Social reciprocity  Feedback loop and addiction  Creates a lot of doubt and unclear who is really supporting you o If you control the menu, you control the choices o Robocalls  Spoofing numbers  If you know your mind is being hijacked, why are you still using these technologies? o People know they are addicted but that’s the nature of addiction o It’s convenient and sometimes necessary o Be aware of where your attention is being spent