The Economic Realities of Attention
Present commercial “social media” platforms have increasingly gone past their ‘social’ origins. The ‘feed’ across these apps is no longer tied to the ‘social’ aspects, showing us posts and updates from our friends, family and those we chose to follow, it’s now all algorithmically selected by a black box whose criteria seems to be driven by content from accounts those you’ve chosen not to connect with. Regardless of the app, the feed is the same.
The algorithm was developed for attention, driven by metrics that are driven by ‘engagement’. These tend towards the extreme and base elements of human nature, evoking a reaction and capturing our attention. Not our affection but attention. Initially being provocative of both positive and negative emotions (hate and cat videos), it now sways completely to the negative because that evokes better metrics. Not a better experience, but better metrics.
By doing so, the platforms monetised and weaponised content. They hoarded all of their wealth and focused purely on the pursuit of profit at the expense and loss of all else. Morals, ethics, connection, friends, family, children, wellbeing, health – all of it tossed aside in the pursuit of money. Not value but wealth. The ‘social’ elements of the media were eroded and hollowed out until they existed only in the name and label given once upon a time. These are not platforms for connection, but for division. Not for cohesion, but exclusion. Not community or care, but fracture and destruction.
And I have to ask – is this worth paying attention to? Is the cost worth it?
Now let’s jump to today and the world of “AI”. Sure, it’s artificial, but it’s also as intelligent as a blow to the head with a hammer. It's another label that's absolutely meaningless, as it combines both fantasy and reality, possibility and faith, with an underwhelming reality that's entirely built on hype. We can certainly debate the nuances of a specific technology or implementation, but you cannot do that within the space that “AI” creates. You cannot talk about the truth of LLMs outside of the hype of AI. You cannot build castles from sand, nor can you conjure truth from lies.
As I look across the platforms today, what I see is a parade of AI-generated content posted by bots, commented on by other bots, in a feed of strangers, where every other post is an ad that’s curated by a black box fuelled by a hate metric.
What here is worth my attention?
What here is worth my time?
There is no social left in “social” media. There is no affection, no experience, no value, no connection, no cohesion, no community or care left in these platforms. Platforms run by business idiots who think that this is ok and that this (¯_(ツ)_/¯ ) is a viable business model. These are the same idiots whose only function is to make numbers go up.
But if we leave… if we take our attention and go. If we realise that what’s here is not worth anything to us anymore, we take that value with it. And we now know how much that value is worth, so we can take it and invest it elsewhere. In platforms that honour our attention rather than take it for granted. That provides real value to us. That create an experience worth investing in.
That’s the economics of attention we should be focused on.