"If you're not paying for the product, you are the product."

the attention economy

The attention economy can be understood as a managerial approach that treats attention as a commodity in itself. This makes sense in today's world; we have limited time and energy which means that our ability to focus on something is a limited resource.

Within the context of social media, it's our attention that's vied for by the algorithms and programs behind our feeds and timelines. Not only does longer engagement on these platforms generate revenue through our interaction with sponsored content but it also helps train the Artificial Intelligence (AI) behind the algorithms that curate content for us. Essentially, the more attention we give to content in this setting, the more the AI learn about us - our lives, beliefs, likes, and dislikes - which, in turn, allows it to continue re-directing us to content that we would find enticing. To use and participate in social media is to participate in this vicious feedback-loop where we surrender the right to our privacy and data.

In order to tackle the issue of information burnout and to ensure engagement on the users' part, social media platforms have effectively devised and integrated various design mechanisms that re-wire our way of processing the never-ending stream of content that fills our page. The platforms control our social media experience on two levels -

Through features that determine usability like the auto-scroll feature, explore page, notification bar.
By creating and using AI that determines the validity and relevance of content based on potential engagement as opposed to the subject matter.

How social media platforms are

structured to hold our attention:

img: Facebook's annual revenue from 2009 to 2019 (in million U.S. dollars)

capitalistic interests> Public welfare

In order to deal with users' limited attention and interest, social media platforms are designed to provide multiple avenues through which users can access new content (and not get bored). Some of these mechanisms include:

The pull-to-refresh feature - that's consistent across most social media platforms - mimics the effect of using slot machines in casinos where users are invested in their curiosity to find out what kind of posts/content might come their way after having done one single, small action. Users are then 'rewarded' for having refreshed their page with an entirely new stream of content.
Notification bars play into our desire to remain on these platforms as they allow us to fulfill our desire for social connection and validation. Receiving likes and comments on our posts shows us that some aspect of our lives has been deemed as 'worthy' and pushes us to want more of that recognition which, in turn, keeps us coming back for more.
The infinite scroll ensures that users can always find more content to engage with on their feeds and timelines. Eliminating the 'bottom' or 'end' of our timelines also erases the choice users would have otherwise had to make about staying on the platform or leaving.

It's evident that these platforms want to keep users engaged at all costs, even if it entails encouraging an unhealthy consumption of said platforms. This drive to maintain and increase user engagement also translates into the kind of content circulated.

Despite the impact such large platforms could have in bringing awareness to humanitarian causes and mobilizing support for them, social media favors and rewards relatively 'easy' content as opposed to larger issues. Platforms like Snapchat bolster infotainment i.e. entertainment news on their discover page because this kind of material would not pop its users' utopic filter bubbles and cause them to disengage with the platform.

The harm caused does not lie in enjoying the consumption of infotainment but in the way that it allows individuals to detach from reality and avoid caring about vital issues.

Our continued dismissal of the role the human agency plays within our social media experience harms us and those around us in the long run. Read more on how human agency factors by clicking the button below.

img: Worldwide mobile Internet advertising revenue of Instagram from 2015 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars)