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The use of the words "Attention Economy" is what I personally call the pablumization of a problem. If we want to address the problem we need to use the correct

The use of the words "Attention Economy" is what I personally call the pablumization of a problem. If we want to address the problem we need to use the correct term: clickbait economy. The internet as we know it, is bought and paid for by clicks. And the way to get more clicks has nothing to do with authenticity. Just the opposite. Which article would you click on to read - "More and more Americans sink into poverty"? - "Trump and Biden have food fight at restaurant?". And Twitter takes this even further. `if isdemocrat title = "trump throws food at biden?" if isrepublican title = "biden throws food at trump?" if istrump title = "lock em up" It is actually worse than that, because the clicks are then used to sell you a bill of goods. How you should hate 'xyz'. How you should spend $10,000 for a new desk chair. Or how you need a $1000 a month obesity drug to fix the fact that you have been eating clickbait food? Tracking ads are toxic. They threaten our personal well being and the well being of our society. They are right up there with air pollution. Oh wait, no one will want to think about those issues, so why post this comment?

trey-jones 3y ago
Unfortunately, the loss of authenticity has also overflowed into life outside of the internet. Marketing today is just another word for "telling our customers that our new product or service is exactly what they want, agnostic of reality". Hype through loud talking is big too, but my mother-in-law has been doing that since before the internet age began.
efitz 3y ago
There are two fundamental problems with social media. The first is the ad-driven revenue model as you pointed out. The other is the dopamine economy that is driven by getting your stuff to have “engagement”, which is financially reinforced by the ad revenue model. If any one platform by themselves tries to fix these problems then it will be suicide. The industry as a whole has to do it, and they won’t without regulation.
- billyjmc 3y ago
  It’s going to have to be a non-industry move or a radically different model sustained by an interested minority. Federated systems are the other way this can work.

trey-jones 3y ago

Unfortunately, the loss of authenticity has also overflowed into life outside of the internet. Marketing today is just another word for "telling our customers that our new product or service is exactly what they want, agnostic of reality". Hype through loud talking is big too, but my mother-in-law has been doing that since before the internet age began.

efitz 3y ago

There are two fundamental problems with social media. The first is the ad-driven revenue model as you pointed out. The other is the dopamine economy that is driven by getting your stuff to have “engagement”, which is financially reinforced by the ad revenue model. If any one platform by themselves tries to fix these problems then it will be suicide. The industry as a whole has to do it, and they won’t without regulation.

billyjmc 3y ago
It’s going to have to be a non-industry move or a radically different model sustained by an interested minority. Federated systems are the other way this can work.