The Attention Economy
We tend to assume that the products we use online are free, but this belief is misleading. When a service costs us nothing in money, we are rarely the customer; more often, we are the product being sold. The currency that changes hands is not cash but attention — the precious minutes during which our eyes remain fixed on a screen.
Designers of social platforms understand this perfectly well. Features such as endless scrolling, notifications and autoplay are not accidental conveniences; they are carefully engineered to keep us engaged for as long as possible. Every additional second translates into data that can be packaged and sold to advertisers. In this sense, the so-called attention economy treats human focus as a finite resource to be mined, much like oil or minerals.
Critics argue that the consequences reach far beyond wasted time. A mind constantly interrupted struggles to think deeply, and the habit of skimming may gradually erode our capacity for sustained reflection. Some researchers warn that this fragmentation of attention could reshape the way an entire generation processes information.
Defenders of the industry counter that users are free to switch off their devices whenever they wish. Yet this argument conveniently overlooks how deliberately these systems are built to exploit psychological weaknesses. Comparing a casual user to a trained engineer is hardly a fair contest.
The question, then, is not merely whether technology is good or bad, but who ultimately controls the choices we believe we are making freely. Until we recognise attention as something genuinely worth protecting, we may continue to surrender it without noticing the price.
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- 1
What does the writer mean by the statement that we are 'the product being sold'?
- 2
What can be inferred about the writer's view of the industry's defenders?
- 3
In the phrase 'conveniently overlooks', the word 'conveniently' suggests that the omission is:
- 4
The writer compares human attention to a natural resource such as oil.
- 5
According to the passage, all researchers agree that fragmented attention has no real effect on thinking.
- 6
Which of the following ideas are presented in the passage? (Choose all that apply.)
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Що у цьому завданні (1)
- Who Owns Your Attention? — Прочитайте текст і виконайте завдання. · We tend to assume that the products we use online are free, but this belief is misleading. When a service costs us nothing in money, we are rarely the customer; more often, we are the product being sold. The currency that changes hands is not cash but **attention** — the precious minutes during which our eyes remain fixed on a screen. Designers of social platforms understand this perfectly well. Features such as endless scrolling, notifications and autoplay are not accidental conveniences; they are carefully engineered to keep us engaged for as long as possible. Every additional second translates into data that can be packaged and sold to advertisers. In this sense, the so-called attention economy treats human focus as a finite resource to be mined, much like oil or minerals. Critics argue that the consequences reach far beyond wasted time. A mind constantly interrupted struggles to think deeply, and the habit of skimming may gradually erode our capacity for sustained reflection. Some researchers warn that this fragmentation of attention could reshape the way an entire generation processes information. Defenders of the industry counter that users are free to switch off their devices whenever they wish. Yet this argument **conveniently overlooks** how deliberately these systems are built to exploit psychological weaknesses. Comparing a casual user to a trained engineer is hardly a fair contest. The question, then, is not merely whether technology is good or bad, but who ultimately controls the choices we believe we are making freely. Until we recognise attention as something genuinely worth protecting, we may continue to surrender it without noticing the price.