Yesterday, I was talking with my group mates in my biology lab about social media. One of my group mates is a marketing major, and he mentioned that he’s not on social media because what once started as a way to connect with people you knew personally, has now become mainly a marketing tool, whether it’s being used to market yourself, a product, or business. That perspective really shifted the way I think about social media and has inspired me to get off of social media more.
When it comes to the conversation around social media, the phrase “attention economy” is used quite frequently. The “attention economy” refers to how social media companies and creators gain money from what you pay attention to. The social media apps are designed to keep people on the app for as long as possible and to keep the user’s attention. The longer and more frequently someone is on social media, the more money social media companies and content creators make. Due to the brain’s release of dopamine, a feel-good chemical, in response to using social media, it can be addicting and hard to stop using. These properties often make out social media as a monster of sorts.
However, there is another side to the “attention economy.” We get to decide what we pay attention to and whether or not we continue to consume large amounts of content on social media. Much like the decision that my classmate made not to use social media anymore, we get to make decisions based on what does or doesn’t fit our lives. This concept is applicable to other things, such as classes, jobs, or hobbies. If a class doesn’t work for you, you can often change classes or find other ways to make the class work for you, like applying different study techniques. By making these decisions, we decide what to spend our time on. There is power in what we give our time and attention to. Sometimes, all it takes is a simple conversation to serve as a reminder of that power.
So, as we head into the second half of the fall semester, I am being more careful of what I spend time on. When I click onto a social media app, I now find myself stopping and closing the app if I’m not using it to directly message a friend. There are other things I’d prefer to devote my attention to, whether it be spending time with loved ones, academics, or picking up my guitar again.