How To Thrive In The Attention Economy

What's interesting about the attention economy is that anyone by default is both a creator and a consumer. Generally, there are more consumers that creators.

Because the former seems easier to be than the latter. There's an active element of doing with being a creator, creating something that people find valuable.

However, in the grand scheme of things, both creators and consumers are equally important. And some argue that one can't do without the other.

In the web2 world, it's more rewarding to be a creator than a consumer. Creators can get paid for their work while consumers can consume content for free.

In web3 however, it's a different model and both categories can get paid for what they do. So far, Hive is a good example of that in my view. I sometimes imagine what it would look like if one is great at both? Is there an equilibrium between the creator-consumer dynamic?

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Authenticity And Playing The Game

The attention economy, in its simplest definition, can be understood as a marketplace where our limited attention is the valuable resource being traded. This stems from supply and demand, and scarcity.

There's an abundance of content, products, and experiences vying for our attention(supply). Which is a limited resource because we can only focus on one thing at a time(scarcity).

This creates a demand by which companies and individuals compete for the biggest share of our attention because it translates to revenue, influence, or success in their goals.

How we arrived here is a different topic of its own. But this is the current reality of the modern world.

As a creator, infinite supply can translate to infinite noise or distraction. And what you create can get loss in the void unless you shun the ordinary.

Thriving in an attention economy simply starts with being our authentic self. This is the unique stamp that differentiates us from everyone else.

However, we also have to learn the rules of the game and play by them, to further tip the scales in our favour.

This means understanding certain basics of the attention economy, such as emotional triggers, niche up or down on what to focus on, strategically utilizing platforms and collaborations and partnerships.

While value may be subjective, quality over quantity is something that few will disagree on. Quality in itself can to be dry, in that it is merely substance without style.

This is where emotional triggers come into place. Play on emotions like curiosity, humor, or empathy can spark initial interest and encourage further engagement.

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Mindful Consumption

As an consumer, the basis of thriving in an attention economy is managing our focus. I like to think of it as creating structure or mental models that allow us to stay on course without getting distracted by all the noise around us.

In practice, this means setting clear boundaries on what to consume and the allocated time for it. Of course, this is easier said than done. But it is a good way to develop mental hygiene.

This is just an observation. But it seems how well of a creator we are depends to a certain extent on the type of consumer we are. What we consume has an influence on what we create, and the finer the source material, the finer the creation.

Nowadays, attention is a commodity. And just like money or time, it has value and can be exchanged for other things.

Thriving in the attention economy is a multifaceted approach, by which we tackle both grabbing attention and managing our own focus in this noisy digital landscape.


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