The Attention Decay Algorithm

I think everyone nowadays understands what “The algorithm” is, or at least they have heard people talk about it. Most people who use social media understand that the algorithm is a one-way feedback system. You as the user are training the algorithm. Yet, what most people don’t know is the algorithm is training you. If you haven’t already experienced it yet there is a feeling when you are bored that you instinctively take out your phone. You are at the gym waiting for your next set, you pull out your phone. You are waiting in line to get coffee and you start to scroll. You get where I am going with this, social media is ingrained in our DNA. I have fallen victim to this as well, I have caught myself doomscrolling and thought to myself “What am I doing?”. The question I asked myself does the algorithm deliberately drip-feed you content so they can keep you on the app?

We are in a sense heroin addicts for the scroll, it is almost impossible to not get the hit of dopamine. To answer the proposed question, yes we are being drip-fed content. In a technical sense, Instagram is free. It doesn’t cost anything to create an account. Yet, you are the currency. The way these social media apps make money is by keeping you on the app. So, the reason for them to keep you on the app is to sell advertising and your habits are the currency. I wonder what the optimal way to use social media is. There is no doubt that social media has extreme benefits. The instant flow of information, the ability to find your substrata of people, and too much more to list. Those are just what came to me while writing this in a coffee shop. To me, it seems like the optimal way to use it where you can have this balance of online life and real life. I think we can all agree on that. Use the algorithm to find people in your area and meet them in person. However, there is a contradiction to that. The big tech giants would never promote something like that because the whole model is to keep you on the app, so they can get more ad revenue off you. Your mind is the coin that gets put into the machine. There is a stark reality that goes unnoticed, these social media companies collect data. Mass amounts of data. They know you better than you know yourself. I don’t want to make this seem like a conspiracy theory and I am some crazy guy in my mom's basement (Not in her basement, In her guest room). It is just the facts.

I am sure everyone has either thought to themselves or heard someone say my phone is listening to me. “It just recommended me to buy a blender when we were just talking about it.”. In a sense, yes your iPhone is actively listening. It has to listen for you to activate “Hey Siri” or your Alexa is listening when you say “Hey Alexa”. However, these big tech companies are not turning your conversations into digestible data to sell to advertisers. At least not that I know of. Yet, the algorithm has collected thousands of data points on your buying habits, psychological habits, dating preferences, sports teams, and pretty much anything you search on the internet the algorithm and social media companies have. There seems to be a divergence of personas that is developing. The internet you and the physical you. Every time you post a photo, a tweet, an article, or a video, you are splitting what is real and what is fake. In a world where we are all connected to social media in some way, I do not think it will ever be possible to be one person. I am still wrapping my head around that concept myself.

It is hypocritical for me to write this article because I had the idea to write this article when I didn’t have social media. As of writing this, I have re-downloaded it. I do have to say my life without social media was a lot better. I realized the amount of time that was just stolen from me doom scrolling. I have spent over one and a half hours wasted on Instagram. Last year I devoted my time to reading and I devoured 33 books. All in all, I am writing this article to inform you that our minds are being hijacked. I am not trying to convince you to go on a social media cleanse. Just want to inform you of what is happening.