{"id":1456,"date":"2026-02-24T12:14:52","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T04:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jointings.org\/eng\/?p=1456"},"modified":"2026-02-24T14:50:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T06:50:23","slug":"on-the-attention-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jointings.org\/eng\/archives\/1456","title":{"rendered":"On the Attention Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u3010\u4e13\u680f\u3011| Columnists<\/a> >\u00a0<\/a>The Unconventional Server<\/p>\n

For Sale<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n
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By Jia,\u00a0Jointing.Media, in Wenzhou , 2025-11-30<\/p>\n

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The so-called \u2018Attention\u00a0economy\u2019 of our times essentially amounts to the trade of human \u2018eyeballs\u2019 as commodities. It is widely acknowledged that in this age, information floods in like a tidal wave, drowning people’s discernment and leaving them ever more shallow-minded. While no genuine gold can be found in this tide, some deliberately stir up waves at its crest, waiting for those \u2018eyeballs\u2019 to chase the surf before cramming in their tawdry wares, euphemistically termed \u2018monetising traffic\u2019. Yet such chaos is no mere incidental \u2018moral decay.\u2019 It stems from multiple \u2018root causes\u2019 festering and fermenting into this bitter fruit. Regulators, who ought to be the surgeons excising these root causes, often stand by as mere spectators or hangers-on, allowing the \u2018monster\u2019 to grow ever more rampant.<\/p>\n

Looking back to the dawn of print media, when it first emerged, it still put on airs about \u2018truth\u2019 and \u2018morality,\u2019 at least draping a fig leaf over the \u2018eyeball.\u2019 But once radio waves and screens flooded the airwaves, that \u201ceyeball\u201d was swept along towards the \u2018bustle\u2019: First, sensationalist journalism stirred restless hearts; later, Super Bowl adverts filled the streets with the stench of money. Now, in the digital age, it’s even more astonishing: algorithms lurk like spectres, probing human preferences, trapping those eyes within tiny screens, feeding them fragmented scraps of leftovers, and calling it \u2018personalised service\u2019. Such tricks bear an uncanny resemblance to the old street monkey shows. Yet behind these \u2018monkey-taming\u2019 acts lie three deep-seated ills: the runaway pace of technology, the greed of capital, and the fragility of human nature. Regulators, who ought to be the gatekeepers, often linger outside the gate\u2014either turning a blind eye or outright handing out passes, emboldening the monkey-taming charlatans to act with increasing impunity.<\/p>\n

First, consider the technological frenzy. Herbert Simon’s observation that \u2018information is abundant, attention is scarce\u2019 was originally an inevitable consequence of technological evolution\u2014printing enabled mass dissemination of information, electronic media fostered immersive communication, while digital technology decentralised and refined its precision. Yet technology itself is neither inherently good nor evil; it is those who wield it as a \u2018harvesting tool\u2019 who are at fault. Algorithms, born to enhance efficiency, are now used to construct \u2018information silos,\u2019 trapping people’s attention within narrow cognitive confines. Big data, designed to optimise services, is exploited for excessive user tracking, treating privacy as a \u2018traffic password.\u2019 At this juncture, regulators ought to establish \u2018rules\u2019 and define \u2018red lines.\u2019 Yet what do they do? Either they turn a blind eye to the \u2018black box of technology,\u2019 allowing algorithms to manipulate human attention in the shadows; or they issue regulations that merely scratch the surface, offering only \u2018light warnings\u2019 for traffic fraud and data abuse, never delivering a \u2018heavy-handed crackdown.\u2019 This regulatory inaction and sluggishness amounts to handing a \u2018free pass\u2019 to runaway technology, exacerbating the absence of ethical safeguards\u2014constituting the first layer of indulgence in this chaotic landscape.<\/p>\n

Then there is the greed of capital. The essence of the attention economy lies in monetising \u201cattention\u201d as a scarce resource, while the very nature of capital is to \u201cpursue profit and shun loss\u201d. When traditional industries see profits decline, capital swarms towards the \u2018eyeball economy\u2019 like sharks drawn to blood: platforms levy \u2018commissions\u2019 on traffic, creators exchange traffic for \u2018tips\u2019, and advertisers reap \u201cprofits\u201d from traffic. Once this \u2018traffic-driven interest group\u2019 forms, it snowballs ever larger, treating \u2018traffic supremacy\u2019 as the sole \u2018law of survival\u2019. Regulators either lag behind, only patching holes after chaos erupts, or show bias\u2014sparing major platforms while imposing draconian standards on small creators, thereby cementing top-tier monopolies. Worse still, the seemingly ambiguous relationship between regulators and capital breeds suspicion\u2014why do penalties for false advertising and vulgar content always feel like scratching an itch through a shoe? Why do measures to address platforms’ traffic monopolies rarely strike at the root of the problem? Regulatory negligence and favouritism act as accomplices to the perversion of capital logic, emboldening greed to run rampant\u2014this constitutes the second layer of indulgence enabling the chaos.<\/p>\n

Finally, let us speak of the fragility of human nature. The collusion between technology and capital would ultimately fail to gain traction without human complicity\u2014yet deep within the human heart lie three fears: the fear of loneliness, the fear of falling behind, and the fear of being uninteresting. Thus, social media’s \u2018likes\u2019 and \u201cshares\u201d become the elixir to fill the void of loneliness; \u2018viral hits\u2019 and \u2018trending topics\u2019 serve as proof of not being left behind; and \u2018short, flat, and fast\u2019 content acts as an anaesthetic to numb tedium. These three fears within the human psyche provide an opening for technology and capital to exploit. Regulators, who ought to be \u2018awakening the public to clarity\u2019 and guiding them towards sound values, often remain mere \u201cbystanders\u201d: they avoid discussing the dangers of \u2018digital addiction\u2019, remain indifferent to the trend of \u2018shallow public discourse\u2019, and turn a blind eye to the plight of \u2018quality content lacking space to thrive\u2019. This regulatory absence has amplified humanity’s fragility and deepened the loss of discernment \u2013 constituting the third layer of indulgence in this chaos.<\/p>\n

These three root causes intertwine and reinforce each other, while the regulators’ triple indulgence has only emboldened the monster. Thus, industrial structures are distorted by \u2018traffic\u2019, public discourse is hijacked by \u201cemotion\u201d, and \u2018heart and mind\u2019 grow ever shallower in the \u2018torrent of traffic\u2019\u2014can such chaos truly be summed up as mere \u2018moral decline\u2019? It is clearly the bitter wine brewed by technology, capital, and human nature, further laced with the \u2018indulgence\u2019 of regulators, rendering it ever more acrid and hard to swallow.<\/p>\n

Today, calls for \u2018media self-regulation\u2019 and \u2018platform accountability\u2019 carry some merit. Yet unless regulators abandon their spectator stance and summon the courage to wield the scalpel, even the strictest self-discipline or most exemplary responsibility will remain mere talismans affixed to the monster\u2014temporarily effective but ultimately failing to address the root cause. To cure this ailment, regulators must first engage in self-reflection: Regarding technology, they must establish ethical guidelines and enforce strict compliance standards, ensuring algorithmic transparency and lawful data usage while maintaining zero tolerance for violations. Regarding capital, they must establish boundaries of value and dismantle monopolistic structures, ensuring traffic monetisation coexists with societal value rather than prioritising traffic above all else. Regarding human nature, they must cultivate clear-headed discernment and foster an ecosystem of quality content. Through policy support, quality content must be given space to thrive, enabling the public to learn discernment through choice.<\/p>\n

Yet rooting out these maladies proves far more arduous than chasing traffic. Regulators, largely custodians of the status quo, shy away from reform’s risks and fear offending vested interests. While the world surfs the waves, regulators stand by watching. How many dare become root-diggers? Well then, let us watch this \u2018monster\u2019 continue to devour our \u2018eyeballs,\u2019 and await the day when our \u2018souls\u2019 are utterly drowned. Only then might regulators realise that \u2018traffic\u2019 is but \u2018fleeting smoke and clouds.\u2019 Only by relinquishing \u201cindulgence\u201d and embracing \u2018responsibility\u2019 can we find the true path.<\/p>\n

The moonlight is splendid tonight. I pushed open the window to gaze at the stars, only to be dazzled by the countless mobile screens in the building opposite. Those blue-tinged lights resembled innumerable hungry eyes.<\/p>\n

Suddenly it dawned on me: the root of this \u2018eyeball economy\u2019 lies not in technology, nor in commerce, but in the barrenness of human hearts and the indulgence of regulators. Yet rousing these feigned sleepers may prove tenfold harder than weaning addicts off opium.<\/p>\n

(This article was generated by Quark based on the author’s provided perspective)<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u4e2d\u6587\u539f\u6587<\/a><\/p>\n

Translated <\/em>by DeepL<\/em>
\nPainting\u00a0by Ann | Morning Light in the Forest (2025)<\/span>
\nEdited by Yiyi<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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\u3010\u4e13\u680f\u3011| Columnists >\u00a0The Unconventional Server For Sale By Jia,\u00a0Jointing.Media, in Wenzhou , 2025-11-30 The so-called \u2018Attention\u00a0economy\u2019 of our times essentially amounts to the trade of human \u2018eyeballs\u2019 as commodities. It is widely acknowledged that in this age, information floods in like a tidal wave, drowning people’s discernment and leaving them ever more shallow-minded. While no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-city","category-csr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jointings.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jointings.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jointings.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jointings.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jointings.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1456"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jointings.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1462,"href":"https:\/\/jointings.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456\/revisions\/1462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jointings.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jointings.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jointings.org\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}