Social networks disguised attention capture beneath promises of connection.

Evidence

In the guise of bringing people together, these networks would wire the most invasive attention capture apparatus yet invented into millions upon millions of lives. What were the terms for that arrangement? As with any user agreement, it was in the provider’s interest that one click “accept” quickly, and not wade into the fine print. — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 973

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes the platform-vs-public-interest tension in Zuboff’s surveillance capitalism thesis; connects to the reader’s surveillance-industry history thread. — connects to: Social media is precision-engineered to exploit adolescent desires for peer recognition. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1432; Online networks accidentally discovered that users recruit other users’ attention — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 719; Interpersonal relationships were the final unconquered frontier for attention merchants — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 724 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Social media turned attention capture into mutual self-display at unprecedented scale #corroborates (0.90) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1062
• Attention extraction reaches people before they can reach their communities #corroborates (0.85) — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!, 299