Attention operates as a form of capital that accrues interest and concentrates inequality.

Evidence

In the same way as money, attention capital is self-reproducing, earning interest. There is a circular, self-reinforcing and self-reproducing dynamic: attention generates more attention. Paying attention to an attention-rich public figure, a celebrity, is in turn a means of attracting attention (to oneself. This is an essential driving force of activity in social media. One can observe second-order attention wealth-creation: the attention of those rich in received attention is “worth” correspondingly more. What someone rich in attention capital pays attention to (Tweets, posts on Instagram) has far more impact than anything anyone poor in attention capital is interested in; the more followers a Tweeter has, the greater the impact of their tweets, because followers constitute attention capital. — Michael H. Goldhaber, The Attention Economy and the Net, 16

Categorization

• XREF: Directly extends the originating essay’s attention-economy thesis — this is the core mechanism of the attention-as-capital construct. — connects to: Current attention-organizing logics serve financial interests and are self-destructive. — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 501; Attention works as a needle weaving global links at the price of inequality — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 560; Attention itself constitutes productive labor that generates value — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 148 (+12 more)
• DEFINE: Defines attention capital and second-order attention wealth-creation through the money analogue and the follower-count metric.

Related

• Attention functions as currency in prestige-differentiated social groups (similarity 0.89)
• Attention functions as a currency that compounds like interest. (similarity 0.89)
• Attention now functions like money as a common metric for cultural value. (similarity 0.88)
• Attention functions as convertible capital that individuals and institutions can bank and trade (similarity 0.87)
• Attention operates as an addictive wealth of increasing returns (similarity 0.87)
• Attention works as a needle weaving global links at the price of inequality (similarity 0.86)
• Attention cannot function as currency without homogenizing measurement (similarity 0.86)
• Attention inequality forms a distinct axis of class alongside money (similarity 0.86)
• Attention is the scarce resource that powers the information economy. (similarity 0.84)
• Attention only becomes convertible capital through homogenizing measurement devices (similarity 0.84)
• Attention is a socially produced and politically governed resource, not merely a scarce one. (similarity 0.84)
• Attention is becoming the hegemonic resource restructuring material production (similarity 0.84)
• Fame now precedes wealth in the attention economy (similarity 0.84)
• Michael H. Goldhaber — The Attention Economy and the Net (similarity 0.84)
• Attention’s present-bound nature contradicts the notion of capital accumulation (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• Attention now functions like money as a common metric for cultural value. #corroborates (0.88) — Annual Review of Anthropology contributors (⚠ verify author line), The Political Economy of Attention, 18
• Attention can be quantitatively measured and thereby bought and sold. #expands (0.85) — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!, 121
• Attention’s present-bound nature contradicts the notion of capital accumulation #contradicts (0.82) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 157
• Attention scarcity can be turned into an asset through redistributed attention #expands (0.80) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 337
• Attention is a socially produced and politically governed resource, not merely a scarce one. #complicates (0.80) — Annual Review of Anthropology contributors (⚠ verify author line), The Political Economy of Attention, 19
• The attention economy treats attention as uniform when its quality is secretly variable #qualifies (0.75) — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 345