The Struggle for Human Attention: Between the Abuse of Social Media and Digital Wellbeing

Abstract

Human attention has become an object of study that defines both the design of interfaces and the production of emotions in a digital economy ecosystem. Guided by the control of users’ attention, the consumption figures for digital environments, mainly social media, show that addictive use is associated with multiple psychological, social, and physical development problems. The study presented develops a theoretical proposal regarding attention. In the first part, the research analyzes how attention has been studied and how it behaves using three disciplines: neurophysiology, neuropsychology, and economics. In the second part, considering this general framework, the study uses categories of the three disciplines to explain the functioning of social media, with special emphasis on their interactive, attractive, and addictive design. Finally, the article presents, as a practical example of the exposed theory, the main results of two case studies that describe social media consumption among young people. The research shows the relevance of the theoretical study of attention as a key element by which to understand the logics that dominate the interactive design of social media. It also uses a multidisciplinary perspective. The addictive behaviors identified in the two examples support the theoretical proposals and open research lines oriented to the measurement and understanding of the attention given to social media.

Exploring the Dimensions of Smartphone Distraction: Development, Validation, Measurement Invariance, and Latent Mean Differences of the Smartphone Distraction Scale (SDS)

“…Smartphones are ubiquitous digital devices that offer multiple communication affordances to half of the world's population (15), and may interfere with how attentional resources are allocated, constituting an emerging area of research (16)(17)(18)(19). Increasing evidence suggests that smartphone use triggers frequent interruptions and breaks from main tasks, further interfering with cognitive processes and ability (20)(21)(22)(23)(24), cognitive functioning (25)(26)(27)(28), and associated with distraction and compromised performance (26)(27)(28) resulting in sub-optimal learning among young people (29,30).…”

The Relationship between Government Information Supply and Public Information Demand in the Early Stage of COVID-19 in China—An Empirical Analysis

“…Meanwhile, the public has an objective demand for timely and accurate information in public health emergencies. Literature has explored the public’s motives and needs on social media, including information search, political interests, self-development, perceived reciprocity, altruism and economic consumption [ 3 , 21 ]. Certain characteristics of information have been identified to attract more public attention, such as phases, emotions and topics [ 22 ].…”

Evolution of the Digital Attention Market in the Pandemic: A Comparative Study of Young Spanish University Students (2019–2021)

“…In cognitive capitalism [14,15] or platform capitalism [16], the concentration of users' time and digital attention on a few platforms has multiple risks, both individual and collective. The affectation of digital health and well-being [17,18]; the alteration in the development of the economy and politics [19]; the intrusion in the practice of journalism [20]; the automation of common sense [21], or the construction of a society centred on the emotional conviction of the media narrative that promotes confrontation [22] with scarce levels of democratic deliberation [23], are major problems identified and continuously denounced in recent years.…”

“…In this way, technology companies (through social media and the main streaming platforms) exercise control over the reference models of their users (almost 100% of young people in Spain). Through the centralized practice of publishing user-generated content and the psychological effects of notification and reward systems [19], platforms have established the dominant values of youth: narcissism [36], fame [37] and aesthetic conditioning exerted under the social pressure of social networks [38].…”