KD^3C^3 - 20260125 My room is comfortably small
Hope you're doing ok, if you are in the part of the US that got hit by this severe winter storm. I know I am.
I’ve been thinking about attention for a while now. John and Hank Green, the vlogbrothers (among other things) have talked about how social media is a driver of attention. The algorithms are deciding what to show you and the things that get more attention get shown to more people. So we have to be very careful about what we give our attention to. Because where we point that spotlight of attention matters.
Hank Green in particular mentioned that the big innovation in vertical video platforms like tiktok isn’t that they’re vertical, but that they take away more choice than ever before. You don’t decide what the next video is going to be. The app decides and all you get for choice as a viewer is do I stay on this video or pull the slot machine arm for the next one? And clearly it’s working.
Tiktok finally got sold to a US Company, ar at least the US operations part did. Because we don’t care if a company harvests everything about you as long as that company is on our shores (see also: Facebook, google). And they really are harvesting everything. A recent change to the tiktok terms of service this week updated to include things like “your racial or ethnic origin, national origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, or financial information.” And while on the one hand, I know all corporate social media tracks those things, it always feels particularly icky to see it laid out in plain text.
But I don’t use TikTok so I’m coming this as an observer. I like having more control over my attention. Not absolute control, mind you, I’m still distracted by metaphorical shiny objects, like so many others. But I try to be mindful of when and how I’m giving that control away.
So this week, ask yourself:
“when is my attention being diverted?”
“Who wants me to see this and why?”
“Can I put my attention somewhere else?”
“Do I want to?”
I’ll try to do the same.
I’ve been thinking about attention for a while now. John and Hank Green, the vlogbrothers (among other things) have talked about how social media is a driver of attention. The algorithms are deciding what to show you and the things that get more attention get shown to more people. So we have to be very careful about what we give our attention to. Because where we point that spotlight of attention matters.
Hank Green in particular mentioned that the big innovation in vertical video platforms like tiktok isn’t that they’re vertical, but that they take away more choice than ever before. You don’t decide what the next video is going to be. The app decides and all you get for choice as a viewer is do I stay on this video or pull the slot machine arm for the next one? And clearly it’s working.
Tiktok finally got sold to a US Company, ar at least the US operations part did. Because we don’t care if a company harvests everything about you as long as that company is on our shores (see also: Facebook, google). And they really are harvesting everything. A recent change to the tiktok terms of service this week updated to include things like “your racial or ethnic origin, national origin, religious beliefs, mental or physical health diagnosis, sexual life or sexual orientation, status as transgender or nonbinary, citizenship or immigration status, or financial information.” And while on the one hand, I know all corporate social media tracks those things, it always feels particularly icky to see it laid out in plain text.
But I don’t use TikTok so I’m coming this as an observer. I like having more control over my attention. Not absolute control, mind you, I’m still distracted by metaphorical shiny objects, like so many others. But I try to be mindful of when and how I’m giving that control away.
So this week, ask yourself:
“when is my attention being diverted?”
“Who wants me to see this and why?”
“Can I put my attention somewhere else?”
“Do I want to?”
I’ll try to do the same.