Attention Resistance
The mindset of the Metaverse Future
Almost three years ago, I read Cal Newport’s book Digital Minimalism. I was at a point where I couldn’t deal with the requirements of social media: I had my second child two months earlier and was very annoyed with the constant influx of information and the need to stay in touch with everybody online. I felt I couldn’t handle the digital “always-on” mentality.
At the end of his book, Cal Newport introduces the concept of “Attention Resistance” — it instantly struck a chord with me. He uses the idea more in the sense of a digital detox, where you keep your distance from your smartphone and other devices. But for me, my years of discomfort with the demands of digital life suddenly made sense. It is no coincidence that I felt overwhelmed in the face of countless messages, friend requests, information, and advertisements.
Strategic Overload
The more I read about other people constantly overwhelmed, the more I realized it wasn’t just me, and it wasn’t entirely my fault either. I wasn’t as lazy and consumeristic as I thought I was. There was a development that made me uneasy, but I chose to ignore it before. In his influential essay, I used to be a human being Andrew Sullivan describes his slow decline due to the constant, endless bombardment of news, gossip, and images. In doing so, he also points out that our overwhelm is no coincidence:
“Do not flatter yourself in thinking that you have much control over which temptations you click on. Silicon Valley’s technologists and their ever-perfecting algorithms have discovered the form of bait that will have you jumping like a witless minnow. No information technology ever had this depth of knowledge of its consumers — or greater capacity to tweak their synapses to keep them engaged.”
Persuasive Design and Manipulation
Of course, our attention has been systematically studied and manipulated at the latest with the advent of the mass media. We react more strongly to certain stimuli than to others. Colors, moving images, sudden changes, and the like have long been used in advertising to guarantee customer attention. What has changed is the amount of data that big internet companies have from us and can use or sell in a targeted way. And that we are constantly available to these companies through our smartphones and their place in our everyday lives.
The companies’ intentions are not clearly stated and evident with social media. Their business model is based on the commodification of our attention: the more attention a platform, site, or service can attract, the more effective its advertising space becomes and the more it can charge advertisers. At the same time, our behavior on the web leaves behind user data that is then collected, stored, and used to capture our attention more accurately in turn.
And the big tech companies are also paying for this insight: many psychologists work for companies such as Facebook, Instagram, or Microsoft, perfecting their persuasive design. Companies have adopted the findings and developed smartphones, games, and platforms around research results. This strategy has been highly effective and has led to what has been the goal for the tech industry: to keep people in front of their screens and not let them leave.
However, the public and users are either unaware of this strategy or, at least in everyday life, users are unaware or accept it because there are no alternatives. There is still hardly any discourse about the use of persuasive design. However, the consequences affect us all: we are guinea pigs for Silicon Valley, and as individuals, we play a decisive role in their rise through advertising-based business models.
Time to Reclaim Our Autonomy
I am no longer willing to accept this assumption of the attention economy. Attention is a scarce resource, and I will not waste it with data-collecting apps and empty social media posts. I want to develop my thoughts and not be constantly filled by other people’s posts. I want to live and experience my own life and decide who or what I give my attention to. There the idea of Attention Resistance comes into play. I think we all should be familiar with some form of this concept when being in digital spheres.
The Metaverse is coming soon, and we don’t want to find ourselves in a situation where Facebook influences our inner lives. I suggest the following mindset when dealing with digital applications:
Attention Resistance [noun, /əˈten.ʃən/ /rɪˈzɪs.təns/]
Everyone should be able to decide how much time or effort one is willing to spend on someone or something. This decision should be free from manipulation. Our social obligations regarding availability and our habits regarding digital influences must not hinder our autonomy of thought and action.
It is funny that we have to develop such a thing as attention resistance for digital applications — because apart from that, we are aware that manipulation and influence are morally reprehensible. We would not tolerate the behavior of tech companies in analog life. There are much stricter requirements regarding influencing people with analog advertising on TV or radio.
Thank you for reading.
