Attention Economy

By Will Lieber, 19, Illinois

In 1997, theoretical physicist Michael Goldhaber warned that the world was shifting away from a material economy and more towards an attention based economy– one focused on attracting and maintaining human attention. 

Physiologically, nicotine is addictive because a series of biological mechanisms results in the release of the brain’s favorite neurotransmitter: dopamine. In some cases, this is the basis of addiction: an outside chemical stimulating the release of dopamine to fulfill a never-ending craving for comfort. The thing is, dopamine is not stimulated by just outside chemicals. It is released when we hug our loved ones, hear the sound of digital coins clinking, or see a funny video on social media. The basis of addiction is the brain craving dopamine, meaning addiction is not only confined to chemical stimulants. 

Electronic Gambling Machines (EGMs) are the new frontier of modern gambling. They enable more rigging, bigger losses, and better data tracking than ever before. EGMs have skyrocketed profits for casinos, and in the process, made gambling the most addictive it has ever been. When juxtaposing the addictive factors of electronic gambling with the modern social media attention economy, it becomes clear that many factors are worryingly similar.

Casinos offer drinks, hotels, food, and entertainment, but these appetizers are only meant to enhance the main course: gambling. The entire environment is rigged to increase profits, as casinos intentionally inebriate their clients with free drinks to increase nonsensical spending. Some casinos even offer loans to their clients after they have been nickeled and dimed all the way down to zero. Casinos make most of their profits off of their most addicted–and biggest losing–clients, whom they term “whales” (Livingstone 2017). Thus, it is in their interest to impose addictive features to continue rolling in profits at their customers’ expense.

Casinos want to get their clients into a state of mind known as “the zone.” This trancelike state is characterized by glazed eyes, hunched posture, and a need for instant gratification. The zone is an escape from a bad day, a lost job, or a difficult year financially. Casinos and game designers do everything to get and keep their clients in the zone through flashing lights, pleasing noises, and unlimited drinks. Individual spins, completed in seconds, are well within the brief attention span plaguing modern humans, keeping them entranced. Near misses intentionally mislead EGM users into thinking they are close to beating carefully chosen mathematical odds. EGMs are so good at taking money, that some countries such as Australia have implemented a policy mandating a return to player ratio of 85% (Livingstone 2017). This means that 85% of money gambled has to be returned to players of the game and not the casino. Mathematically, EGMs will always win provided enough spins to create a large enough sample size.

This zombified state is not exclusive to casinos. Every one of us has entered into it through the gateway of modern social media. The endless scroll of TikTok, filled with short videos curated by a special algorithm, is designed to seize attention. Like buttons, the instantaneous connections provided by comments, and the dopamine released through digital interactions reinforce the human brain in ways that are all too similar to EGMs. These dopamine-stimulating sites provide the same escapism sought after by gambling addicts, just from the confines of your own home.

Some may argue that social media is different, because the trance of social media does not bear the monetary costs of a gambling addiction. Although in most cases spending an excessive amount of time on Instagram or Twitter does not cost you anything, your attention is the currency sought after by social media companies. The more time you spend on their platforms, looking at their advertisements, and consuming their content, the more money you put in their pockets. You are the product in these digital systems, because your attention is traded for profit.

Despite the harm that these vices cause, you should not expect the corporations controlling them to do anything to mitigate that harm. Millions are raked in by the government annually in taxes on gambling despite the extreme social costs. Similarly, social media companies are not going to implement true solutions for social media addictions because responsible users would diminish their profits. They have a vested interest in your continued use of their platforms.

Fortunately, there are ways to combat this attention economy. One is to stop becoming a customer. Deleting social media is a great way to quit cold turkey, but it is inconvenient in modern culture. 

Another is to change your phone to grayscale, which removes many flashing lights and reinforcement mechanisms that compete for our attention. From personal experience, this can make it easier to quit the infinite scroll. On iPhone, you can even set it to toggle on and off with three clicks of the sleep button to make it easier to switch when you need to: Settings>General>Display accommodations>Select Color filters>Toggle color filters on> Grayscale (this could vary based on what software you are using, so play around with it). 

Finally, a great way to combat the attention economy is to continue to educate yourself on how it works. Digital Minimalism, by Cal Newport, is a great way to do so. I encourage you to explore these resources. You deserve your time back.

References:

Livingstone, C. (2017). How electronic gambling machines work. (AGRC Discussion Paper 8). Melbourne: Australian Gambling Research Centre, Australian Institute of Family Studies.

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Last summer I read Digital Minimalism, and recently I stumbled upon the greyscale hack mentioned in the article. I feel passionately about maintaining control over electronics and their addictive properties. All of these factors contributed to my inspiration for this article.

Photo by Plann