is the Attention for the Good or the Bad?

Attention economy is apart of our everyday lives and it is a blessing and a curse. Attention economy rewards the apps and companies that we give our attention to. Attention can be servicing their website and searching for stuff that pleases the consumer. Then it leads to consumers getting alerts on email, instagram, advertisements on youtube and sponsored posts on social media feeds that is related to what you originally searched for. attention economy video.

For example, my favorite website to shop is Nike, and whenever I go on the Nike app or website, later that day and throughout the week, I will get emails and sponsored posts on my social media telling me to buy certain things. Also, my search page on youtube will contain things about nike, all because I showed some interest in their service. The downside of this is that I do not like the posts on my feed from accounts I do not follow, and that happens when I show some attention towards Nike. 

https://www.npr.org/2019/07/04/738719658/netflix-promises-to-quit-smoking-on-most-original-programming

The key ingredient in the attention economy is the relevance of what is gaining your attention. If it is relevant at the time, than the consumer will stick around, which then creates more opportunities for the websites and apps to sell. Obviously, it is impossible for sites to generate relevancy unless they truly know the consumer.

Personally, I feel very overwhelmed from these sites trying to gain my attention. The more sites and advertisements flooding my feed, the less I am attracted to their services. Another example on how attention economy overwhelms me is the process of getting my attention on netflix. I will try and watch a show on netflix, and say I do not like it. I will stop watching the show but then get shows related to the show I did not like on my feed. I may like one of those shows but since it is related to the original show I disliked, I now won’t even give the show a chance. 

https://www.npr.org/2019/07/04/738719658/netflix-promises-to-quit-smoking-on-most-original-programming

Although, the flooding of services on my email and my social media feed can be a lot, there is another side of me that appreciates it. There is an attraction towards services trying to gain my attention. I believe it is just how humans are. Humans like when people or even services try to get their attention. 

I believe there is a middle ground on being connected to the positive side of attention economy and being able to tune it out. I like the idea of being able to get alerts from things you find pleasure in. I like Nike, and getting ads, sponsored posts on instagram and a few emails is cool. A part of me does want to continue to pursue whatever nike has in store for me. It creates a connection between the consumer and the websites or apps. The more services do it, the less or attracts me. It is an odd combination and it may not be like that for everyone. Attention economy is a powerful concept that will continue to make vast improvements to become more personalized for the consumer.

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