September 2020Your Attention is Currency
Years ago, at an Apple conference in L.A., I heard—for the first time—a boiled-down version of how the attention economy works. A banner ad company was talking about “monetizing the eyeballs,” and I pictured a big burlap sack full of eyeballs being exchanged for cash. Not exactly how it works, but also not that far off. Giving our time and focus to something has always been described as “paying” attention. If focusing on things is how we invest in certain outcomes—and our focus is limited, in the sense that it can only be applied to one thing or scenario at a time—we can start to see how it might be viewed as a resource.
It’s tempting to go further and consider attention as a commodity, because it has value and can be bought or sold. What is it about attention that makes it so in demand? Where attention goes, resources often follow. In babies, neural pathways are stimulated and new connections are formed when they receive attention. Without it, infants can suffer what is termed “failure to thrive” (which can be much more disturbing than it sounds). Attention opens the door to what might come next—whether that’s a spoonful of food, the purchase of a new iPhone, or support for a political cause.
Following from this, it’s easy to understand why we get a boost of feel-good brain chemicals when our Instagram photo gets a ton of likes, or why people get a rush from showing up on the jumbotron at an event. We are receiving the attention of all those people—surely great things will follow (or not). It might also explain why people get so nervous when the camera and sound are rolling, compared to the minute before. Recording brings with it the possibility of an unlimited future audience, and people seem to sense that in the moment.
If we go back to the earliest form of attention we received as infants, that eye contact and touch signaled that we could expect sustenance and care. In a Pavlovian sense, our brain chemistry was likely trained to associate that attention with what was coming next—which would help explain why we remain so susceptible to it.
It would also explain why there is such fierce competition for our attention. $6.5 million was the going rate for 30 seconds of the attention of a few million people during the 2021 Super Bowl—opening up the possibility of their interest, money, and loyalty. With so many points at which our attention can be captured—the nozzle of a gas pump, YouTube videos, podcasts, gaming—brands are vying for it at every turn.
Having data that evaluates every interaction increases our understanding of what grabs our attention. But the real question is: why do you want it, and what will you do with it when you get it? If attention is an increasingly scarce resource, we should be spending it wisely—encouraging people to focus on the people, issues, places, and ventures that are in real need of it.
Telling worthy stories in a compelling way is a time-tested approach to this challenge and there is an opportunity to create positive change in the world. This isn’t just an ethical position anymore - it’s a pragmatic one. Looking around at the world today, you’ll see that this is pretty obvious.
That is—of course—if you’re paying attention.
