Oddbean

"We shouldn't be surprised by the polarization and outrage maximization that we observe online; it's a natural outcome of the incentive to maximize engagement. We shouldn't be surprised by "you are the product" business models and the walled gardens of subscription hell; it's a natural outcome of the incentive to capture users and user data. We shouldn't be surprised by clickbait headlines and sensationalism; it's a natural outcome of the evolutionary pressure to farm as many eyeballs and brain cycles as possible." https://dergigi.com/2022/12/18/a-vision-for-a-value-enabled-web/

Time and attention are the ultimate currencies. There is a reason why we "spend" the first and "pay" the latter. And while we do indeed "spend" time and "pay" attention, they are unfit as money because we can't accumulate either. There is a reason why using proper money frees up time and allows for an increase in long-term thinking—both individually and for society at large. Money is as important for capital accumulation as it is for distributed cognition, and if the money is broken, both of these things deteriorate. And with it, so does our time and attention. By using attention as the de facto currency online, we destroyed depth and nuance, as well as our collective attention spans. https://dergigi.com/assets/images/bitcoin/2022-12-18-a-vision-for-a-value-enabled-web/scarlett.png

The attention economy has us neatly segregated into echo chambers of personal truths. Ironically, the only truth worth pursuing in the attention economy is how to keep the maximum amount of people maximally outraged for the maximum amount of time. All while keeping participants unaware that they are trapped in an algorithmic prison of their own choosing. https://dergigi.com/assets/images/bitcoin/2021-12-30-the-freedom-of-value/polarization.png https://dergigi.com/2021/12/30/the-freedom-of-value/

Yup it's incredibly fucked up. nostr:nevent1qqszfmpdtcc43k7asp62p5zhf94aqgvlsfdnt2q8rmm9m5a5ctwz3ucpzamhxue69uhkzarvv9ejumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgtczyphydppzm7m554ecwq4gsgaek2qk32atse2l4t9ks57dpms4mmhfxqcyqqqqqqgfg6t5w

Why is attention economy tied so heavily to keeping maximum amount of people outraged for the longest possible time? Why outraged and not amused..happy..? I agree with your thesis and I observe that on X a lot but still can't figure out why masses are addicted to those who literally call them "retards".

Engagement used to mean engagement and even people that work in the field full-time they get paid that way in the media. It’s all really sad hence why not only this is how we change the world. This is how we continue to change the world.https://media.tenor.com/BVD2C0U8ePwAAAAC/santaclaus-candycanes.gif

Not my words … many have said it in the field https://media.tenor.com/X-W8ceDmGggAAAAC/nap-time-dwarf.gif https://nostrcheck.me/media/cf599589073fc76e8ea6e0ec418c6b6b5b8315cc09d269a1fdbcd49b2f559ba3/6306156a4bfb2b0a35d7fcd6f964802495e950f18006fcac19ea49b67cfe5b1d.webp https://nostrcheck.me/media/cf599589073fc76e8ea6e0ec418c6b6b5b8315cc09d269a1fdbcd49b2f559ba3/b9f3c489063d1850d46af40e0a46221aed102ea7a5e315ba213a30e8329f122c.webp https://nostrcheck.me/media/cf599589073fc76e8ea6e0ec418c6b6b5b8315cc09d269a1fdbcd49b2f559ba3/34db1beb7be5762a8110797b4525b3847d9a0eeab38bb3f2bd7d7e73d6d8f36b.webp https://nostrcheck.me/media/cf599589073fc76e8ea6e0ec418c6b6b5b8315cc09d269a1fdbcd49b2f559ba3/29bb2405dbff4c2e069ebdf6117dcf17b7a44528545df65ff10c4eae4a5b443d.webp https://nostrcheck.me/media/cf599589073fc76e8ea6e0ec418c6b6b5b8315cc09d269a1fdbcd49b2f559ba3/e417186a641c1fb78e6c647a4ad68bb11b698d505ede64999b668dfd84ccb404.webp https://nostrcheck.me/media/cf599589073fc76e8ea6e0ec418c6b6b5b8315cc09d269a1fdbcd49b2f559ba3/e0a24832b5b66906244a13e6ed9382811c479044e15605a1e49641ae640c8c1a.webp

So true the “show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome” It should be no surprise that “we’re the product”… v4v totally turns that upside down though What if my attention is not for sale? Or what if my attention is actually a lot more expensive? I predict as Nostr grows we will see a lot more ways of getting better value for our attention Critically they will be bespoke to the user, individually focused, rather than the centralised tech companies