Hey hey, Alturiigo here- and this is something I've been thinking about for some time, so let me just pretend for a few minutes like I have something thoughtful to say. One of the most valuable things you have to offer is your attention.
The importance of attention on both an individual and massive scale is something that I think can be easily forgotten about in daily life, in part because it's difficult not to be paying attention to something, even if it is just something in your head. The rise of social media has changed a lot of how people interact with each other, but also how we interact with the world - and how it interacts with us. Fake or skewed news is nothing recent, and advertising has been rather important building into our current day, but these things have had major impacts in recent years, things that accentuate the importance and value of attention.
Facebook, Google, think about Superbowl Ads, these things are likely to make you think of immense amounts of money - and that money is for the attention paid to them. Facebook and Google are also what they are because of data, but interestingly enough, the extensive use of their services is what generates the data. The troubling bit for me is that the amount of data is beyond a scope that we can really grasp. Each minute, something like five minutes of video is uploaded to YouTube, and I tried to be conservative with that estimate - that's nuts. You couldn't really finish watching it as a single person. The data is being collected for sure, but there aren't enough people to sort through it all and make sense of every bit, and that's where algorithms come in.
Algorithms determine the ads you see on Facebook, Google and YouTube, as well as many other instances, and when you watch videos on YouTube, the recommended videos are determined by algorithms, which try to offer videos that you are likely to watch. The same idea applies to Facebook and its endless scroll, attempting to maintain your engagement with posts that you are likely to interact with - better or worse. The troubling bit is that while we determined the algorithms and their intent, a few iterations later and how it actually makes the choices it does is beyond our comprehension. Sadly, I feel often upset that I can't offer any thought towards a "solution", as anything valuable such as attention or money(value itself) has many symptoms that seem, seem, to be unavoidable. They say money is the root of all evil, but money is just a way we tend to understand value.
What I can offer as something I believe to be helpful is the reminder that you can choose what you give your attention to, and the kind of attention that you give. Another symptom of the value of attention is "fake news" and click-bait, headlines and articles designed to draw attention. While some may simply be to attract attention this can be harmful, in addition to times that the intent is more maligned. Your attention is still the goal, making it one of the more powerful tools you have today. The viral videos, click-bait, fake news, all of these things have had major negative impacts in digital societies, and it is not an easy task to sort through everything that is thrown at us today.
Remember that you choose what you pay attention to, and now as much as ever, this is one of the most valuable things you can offer. Speak up and speak out as you know you should - you are never too small to matter.
Trot on Everypony,
Alturiigo
