The attention economy is composed of social media, online shopping, search, gaming, streaming video, news, music, podcasts – all the aspects of our global society which monetizes how people apply their attention online. It is essential to understand that the underlying intention is to influence individuals’ cognitive and behavioral patterns by capturing a finite amount of human attention for the benefit of a 3rd party.
The attention economy is already larger than any single country or religion. Our attention has become the new raw resource of this economy, and it is being extracted from us just like fossil fuels are being extracted from the earth for the carbon economy. The data collected about our online experience is used by algorithms and artificial intelligence that are designed to trap our attention…to keep us spending time on a given platform and to target us for ads.
It is a trillion-dollar economy based on a single global currency – the ‘attention’ of individuals.
What can we do to change the course of the Attention Economy and create a better system that respects individuals and the natural world? Part of the answer is to develop a Conscious Attention Economy that puts the needs of humanity, nature, and society ahead of an interest in unfettered economic growth.
A conscious attention economy is defined by respect and reciprocity, where all stakeholders benefit and business models are generative rather than extractive, meaning that, as business is accomplished more effectively, value continuously increases for all stakeholders – business, governments, society, nature and humans alike.
We have seen the power of technology and data, and the impact of our global society with the spread of massive social networks, search engines, and web platforms. We believe that through application of Conscious Attention Economy Principles we can substantially use that same power to alter the current trajectory of the attention economy to achieve a positive and flourishing vision of healthy digital and physical environments embodied by the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the UN’s New Economic for Sustainable Development: Attention Economy.
The fundamental design of our economy and online systems needs to change. This will require waking up to the fallacy of our current assumption that our economy requires unfettered growth. It will also require individuals to become conscious about how we each use our own attention and demand better.
Engaging individuals’ attention with respect, minimizing bias, acknowledging their right to informed choice, while supporting health and well-being should be designed into algorithms, social engagement models, digital technologies, and business models to create a regenerative attention economy that is based on mutual benefit for all. We need a new framework of rules, principles, and ethically aligned goals that re-imagine the current attention system and operates differently than the current economic model in place today.
We have seen the power of technology and data, and the impact of our global society with the spread of massive social networks, search engines, and web platforms. We believe that through application of Conscious Attention Economy Principles we can substantially use that same power to alter the current trajectory of the attention economy to achieve a positive and flourishing vision of healthy digital and physical environments embodied by the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and the UN’s New Economic for Sustainable Development: Attention Economy.
We are in a new era…technology is powerful. But it is only a tool and we influence the values embedded into the business models, platforms and economic frameworks used by technology through our actions, what we buy, what we invest in, what we pay attention to…what we focus on moment to moment – are we giving our attention to things we value, is our attention supporting our intention and creating the world we wish to see?
-Dr. Patricia Klauer