The Commodification of Attention
Ximena opens a social network "just for a minute" while she waits for the bus. When she looks up, 40 minutes have gone by and she is late for school. She didn't pay anything for the app, but something was spent: her time. Who profited from that time, and how?
Attention is limited and worth money
Your day has 24 hours, and you can only look at one thing at a time. That attention is a scarce resource, and what is scarce can be sold.
In Mexico, young people ages 12 to 17 spend an average of about 5.6 hours a day on the internet (ENDUTIH 2023, INEGI/IFT). For a company, those hours are a huge opportunity: lots of people looking at a screen where ads can be shown.
That's why people say: "if you don't pay for the product, you are the product." It doesn't mean you are sold as a person, but your time and your gaze are.
The business model step by step
There are three players: the user, the platform, and the advertiser.
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The platform offers you free content (videos, friends, jokes).
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You give time and data: what you watch, how long you linger, what you like.
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With that data, the platform builds "audiences" and sells them to the advertiser.
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The advertiser pays. The money flows to the platform, not to you.
Notice: nobody pays to use it, but the business grows with more people and more time per person. That's why platforms compete for your time.
«If you don't pay for the product, you are the product». Explain with this sentence the business model of a free social network: what it sells, who it sells it to and…
«If you don't pay for the product, you are the product». Explain with this sentence the business model of a free social network: what it sells, who it sells it to and which strategies it uses to keep you scrolling longer.
Strategies to capture your attention
If time is the product, the design aims to stretch it. These are the most common strategies:
| Strategy | How it works | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Infinite scroll | There is no "end" to invite you to stop | Videos or photos that keep appearing |
| Autoplay | The next piece of content starts by itself | The next video starts in 5 seconds |
| Notifications | They call you back to the app | "Diego and 3 others commented" |
| Variable reward | Sometimes there's something really good, sometimes not, and that hooks you | Pull down to refresh |
| Social pressure | Counters, streaks, and "seen" marks | A 120-day streak you don't want to lose |
| Personalized recommendation | An algorithm picks what keeps you the longest | A "For you" feed that seems to know you |
The cycle repeats: the notification makes you come back, and the endless content keeps you from leaving.
Consequences and how to defend yourself
The consequences of this model go beyond "wasting time":
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Filter bubbles: the algorithm shows you what keeps you the longest, which is usually what you already like or what makes you angriest. That way you see only a small part of the world.
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Less sleep and less concentration: screens until the early hours and checking your phone every few minutes.
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Personal data: the more time you spend, the more data you hand over, and the more precise the ads become.
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Inequality: people who use the platform every day don't always do it by their own choice; the design pushes them.
You can regain control with simple actions:
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Turn off notifications that aren't from real people.
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Set a daily usage limit on your phone.
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Turn off autoplay.
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Leave your phone outside the bedroom when you sleep.
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Ask yourself before opening an app: "What am I opening it for?"