Attention Economy

Something I’ve noticed, however, is that exclusively using TikTok doesn’t mean I’m only exposed to TikTok-specific trends and culture. In fact, many of the dust-ups from other platforms still make their way onto my For You page. Rather than a standalone platform, as it was in its early days, TikTok has become the ocean into which—and out of which—t

I want to be realistic about how the mind works today, which is on multiple streams. And this situation isn’t going to change. We can set up full attention as an ideal, but our digital devices are producing a different way of attending.

the degree to which attention discourse is invested in a clear “subject” looking at an “object”: a binary relation that many of those other methods have challenged.

attention as an outgrowth of interest and, crucially, of choice.

Our attention is sacred. It’s an act of worship in itself. An act of spiritual, mental, and emotional formation. When you give something your attention – a movie, a conversation, a project at work – you’re declaring it the most important thing in your life. It may sound dramatic, but at its core, it’s true. When you pay attention to something, you’

insught from Eugene Wei on the incentives of ad-based social networks:

to raise your revenue as a social media company monetizing from ads (CPM), you have to drive the M part up, because the C is going down. And that means more and more we see all these companies fighting to be more addictive and entertaining.