Social media turned attention capture into mutual self-display at unprecedented scale

Evidence

The once highly ordered attention economy had seemingly devolved into a chaotic mutual admiration society, full of enterprising Narcissi, surely an arrangement of affairs without real precedent in human history. — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1062

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Social media’s broadcastability has transformed status into attention-seeking and visibility. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 30; Social media’s design rewards visibility and self-promotion with social status. — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 39; Trivial social media posts create emotional intimacy through ambient awareness — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 562 (+16 more)

Broader Connections

• Social media reframed self-identity as a personal brand selling attention #expands (0.93) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1031
• Attention-maximizing technologies can reduce rather than increase user control over attention #complicates (0.82) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 635
• Presential joint attention differs in kind from media-captured attention by its participant-limited scale. #qualifies (0.80) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 304
• Blogs shifted attention harvesting from broadcast to peer sharing #expands (0.75) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 911