Your attention has value, so somebody’s profiting
When we lose, others gain.
When we think about scrolling and unnecessary phone use, we often think about what the scrolling costs us: time that could be spent doing other things, stress or anxiety seeing what others have that we don’t, impulse purchases, the toll of reading doom and gloom headlines… But most people don’t consider who’s profiting off our phone use.
We currently live in the “attention economy.” This term was coined by Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon in the 1970s. Even before the birth of the internet (1983) or the iPhone (2007), Simon realized that we were moving from a materials-based economy to an attention-based one. You may also have heard the term “information economy.” Simon argues that we live in an attention economy rather than an information economy, because information is endless but attention is finite. The resources that make up an economy must be finite in order to create scarcity, supply, and demand.
Your attention is currency
So, what does the attention economy have to do with your phone use? Attention is becoming more and more valuable. Your clicks and views have a dollar value, and companies and influencers are profiting off them. Have you ever considered how streaming services offer free or discounted versions of their services that include ads? These services aren’t actually free or discounted. You’re paying for them partly with money and partly with your attention, which these companies find just as valuable. (And marketing works on everyone.)
Why it hurts to watch others scroll mindlessly
If it ever bothers you when someone else is scrolling mindlessly, I think that the attention economy can help explain this. First, it can be annoying when you’re spending time with someone and they pull out their phone (this is known as “phubbing,” or “phone snubbing”). Even this can be traced to a transactional imbalance. There you are, giving your counterpart your undivided attention, and they’re giving theirs to something or someone else. Naturally, the two most common responses are to feel annoyed or to take out your phone yourself (“If you’re not paying attention to me, I’m not paying attention to you”).
If you’re in the position where you’re the one who needs to address your phone, first I would ask yourself the question, “Can this wait?” And if the answer is no, acknowledge to the other person that you need to break away for a moment, and explain why. You wouldn’t open a book mid-conversation with someone. It should be just as unacceptable to just take out your phone.
Even if you’re not directly interacting with someone, it can be depressing to watch them scroll, especially when it’s someone you care about. You’re watching them lose a game that they don’t even realize they’re playing. It reminds me of watching someone play slots. Your attention is a finite resource that you can spend on yourself (doing something you enjoy, working toward a goal you care about), give to others (lend a listening ear to a friend, watch a movie with your kid that you may not be crazy about but that they’re so happy to share with you), or give away to a stranger somewhere on the internet. I think being aware of these distinct possibilities, and intentionally choosing what you want to do with your attention, is a huge positive step.
Spend attention like you spend money
I’m not saying you should never scroll. I’m saying that when you do scroll, it should be because you want to, and only after you’ve considered how much you’re paying for the scrolling. Just as you usually take the monetary price into consideration when you purchase something, you should take the attention price into consideration when you decide to spend time scrolling. Maybe you’ll come up with rules. Some people decide on a hard stop when they go into a casino: “I’ll lose up to $100, and then I’ll stop.” Another common rule is to decide on a percentage of your income to use toward housing or vacations.
Some examples of scrolling rules are “I’ll scroll for x number of minutes and stop” (for this, you can use a timer or a distraction blocker to help you) or “I never purchase something that an influencer advertises until I’ve let it sit in my cart for two days.”
Why tech is so good at capturing your attention
Since companies and people want your attention, they’ve figured out how to manipulate you into giving them as much of it as possible. Just as a casino doesn’t have windows so you don’t know how much time is passing, or IKEA is a one-way maze that forces you to pass by every product before you check out, or grocery stores put yummy snacks by the checkout, tech companies use psychological tricks to keep you on your device longer. With social media, for example, you’re motivated by intermittent reinforcement: when a desired behavior is rewarded randomly, the unpredictability of the rewards makes the behavior more tempting (a classic example is gambling). Apps are designed with intermittent reinforcement to keep you coming back, wondering if you’ll get a funnier reel than the one you just watched.
Ask yourself: Who’s profiting?
When I find myself on my phone, not quite sure if I should put it down, I try to ask myself, “Who’s profiting?” A very typical outcome is that I profit first, for five seconds or so. Maybe I want to check the weather before I get dressed or send a happy birthday text to a friend. The tricky part is then ensuring I don’t stay stuck on my phone and let others profit off me. Asking myself why I’m about to engage with my phone, and what I’m using it for, makes it easier to catch myself a couple of minutes later if I notice that I’m no longer the one profiting. So, remember to always ask: “Who’s profiting?”
If you enjoyed this blogpost, it is an excerpt from my book, How to Stop Scrolling. Buy the book.
