The Need for Attention

By Quinn Scott Charlton

The desire for attention has been a characteristic of humanity since before we considered ourselves human and wise individuals have always known the power of holding others attention. However, the sneaking exploitation of attention for profit and/or ideological motives is a modern issue discussed by the authors of this week's readings. Tim Wu’s term of “attention merchant” best describes the heart of this issue. This new class of “merchant” arose in the 20th and 21st century and uses technology to funnel the attention of the masses. Wu traces the development of our current attention economy back to the propaganda of WW1 and WW2 and throughout the rest of the 20th century until the end of the cold war. During this time governments were using the radio and other means to distribute ideological propaganda. Most notably, Hitler’s mandatory radio events during which he indoctrinated the masses with the Nazi parties “infalible” message. These early “attention merchants” were seeking conformity of thought, but through the dissemination of technology throughout the 90s and 2000s these “attention merchants” have discovered a billion dollar industry. The authors primarily discuss the social media phenomenon.

Due to the immense connectivity of the internet, the emergence of social media seems to be a natural occurrence; however, the negative consequences of the intense competition for our attention are spilling over. The two most impactful problems of social media are the mental health impact incurred by its users and the increasing departure from reason to compete with our attention. Today social media is best observed under Rene Girard's, mimetic theory, where users “enjoy an image of fulfillment such as [they] have observed in others.” Thus, the “preening self unbound by social media” gladly gives its attention to these platforms and their profiteers. Although in theory social media is a place of healthy interaction, the attention and time needed to keep up with the “influencers” is not conducive with mental wellness and often leads to mental illness. My favorite example from Wu is when he refers to the financial model of these companies and he states that the advertisers are the customers and the users are the product. Finally, in an age where more and more media outlets compete for our attention, those with the loudest megaphones get the profit at the cost of quality and sometimes reason. This was the lesson from the brain dead microphone which the author becomes even more pessimistic with the quote, “The era of the jackboot is over: the forces that come for our decency, humor, and freedom will be extolling in beautiful smooth voices, the virtue of decent, humor, and freedom.” This quote shows the deceptive nature of organizations doing anything for attention.