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Attention Economy
Table of Contents
Platforms sell user attention - guard the feed pipe before optimizing the inbox.
Key Concept
- Platforms compete for your focus - engagement optimized against you still counts as optimization.
- Level 1: Like when a video keeps asking you to watch the next one - the app wins your eyes even when you feel tired.
- Level 2: Free games flash bright prizes so you stay longer - someone profits from your time even when the game feels against you.
- Level 3: The attention economy sells user focus - guard the feed pipe before you optimize the inbox for content you should not consume.
- Level 4: Turn off push alerts before you install another focus app - if you are not paying, you are the product.
- Level 5: Signal vs Noise names what to cut; Information Diet is the weekly menu habit - a tidy inbox for junk content is still a loss.
- Guard the pipe before optimizing the inbox - a tidy inbox for content you should not be consuming is still a loss.
- Signal vs Noise names what to cut; Information Diet is the weekly menu habit.
- I treat my feed like a slot machine someone else owns.
- If I am not paying, I am the product - the feed sells my attention, not the article.
- Platforms compete for your focus - I treat the feed like a slot machine someone else owns.
Examples
- I turned off push alerts before trying a new focus app - the pipe was the leak.
- My kid's group chat pinged through homework; airplane mode for forty minutes beat another planner.
Note Relationships
| Relationship | Wikilink | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| contradicts | Digital Serendipity | when the opposite frame fits better |
| extends | Digital Minimalism | Cut tools before feeds eat the rest of your day |
| extends | Information Diet | Platforms compete for attention - diet is the counter-move |
| extends | Renewed Mind | What fights for mind-share before Scripture gets a turn |
| extends | Signal vs Noise | Platforms sell noise - you guard signal |
