Attention Merchants
Entities that capture attention and resell it to advertisers and others who want influence.
Also known as: Attention harvesters, Attention extractors, Engagement merchants
Category: Concepts
Tags: attention, businesses, technologies, media, advertising
Explanation
Attention merchants, Tim Wu's term, describes businesses built on capturing human attention and reselling it. From newspapers to social media, the model is: offer something that attracts attention (content, connection, utility), then sell access to that attention (advertising, sponsored content, data). Modern attention merchants are highly sophisticated: using behavioral psychology, data analytics, and addictive design patterns to maximize attention capture. They employ: variable rewards (slot machine psychology), social validation, infinite scroll, personalization, and notification optimization. The bargain is often invisible - 'free' services extract significant attention value. Attention merchants compete intensely because attention is zero-sum - time given to one platform is taken from others. For knowledge workers, recognizing attention merchants helps: understand why platforms behave as they do, evaluate whether the attention exchange is fair, and make conscious choices about which merchants deserve your attention.
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