Attention only becomes convertible capital through homogenizing measurement devices

Evidence

Attention, which is always particular, only becomes a currency (Währung) – which may be exchanged on a market, accumulated as capital and invested according to the logics of finance – thanks to a translation operation which homogenizes and standardizes it so that it can enter into a system of equivalence. This operation is carried out by the various measuring devices involved in any kind of rating: print runs for hard-copy periodicals, ticket sales at the cinema, monitoring of radio and television audiences, visit counts on the internet. These measuring devices for standardized collective attention – which they transform into an audience – play an absolutely crucial role in contemporary society, since they are what, in concrete terms, enable us to treat attention as a form of capital, which can then enter fluidly into competitive, speculative, and exploitative games organized under the mastery of financial capitalism. — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 165

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the pivotal mechanism: rating devices are what converts particular attention into standardizable audience capital.
• XREF: Connects to the Frankfurt School account of the culture industry reducing qualitative aesthetic experience to quantitative commodity form. — connects to: Attention cannot function as currency without homogenizing measurement — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 163; Measuring attention as data enables treating it as a monetizable resource; Attention functions as convertible capital that individuals and institutions can bank and trade — Michael H. Goldhaber, The Attention Economy and the Net, 14 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Attention cannot function as currency without homogenizing measurement #corroborates (0.95) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 163
• Measuring attention as data enables treating it as a monetizable resource #expands (0.90)
• Attention can be quantitatively measured and thereby bought and sold. #expands (0.90) — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!, 121
• Attention functions as convertible capital that individuals and institutions can bank and trade #corroborates (0.80) — Michael H. Goldhaber, The Attention Economy and the Net, 14
• The attention economy treats attention as uniform when its quality is secretly variable #corroborates (0.80) — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 345
• Attention operates as a form of capital that accrues interest and concentrates inequality. #corroborates (0.75) — Michael H. Goldhaber, The Attention Economy and the Net, 16