Toluu

The Economics of Attention

Wrestling back control of our data

Part 2: Measuring AttentionJuly 25 2008

Attention, like most things, can be measured in a variety of ways; how much, accuracy, level of precision, etc.  Study is advancing very quickly in this area and has shown that most of us can’t pay attention longer than 40 minutes.  Brains tend shut off and try something new at that point if they haven’t already been interrupted and lost 15 min by then.

From a business perspective, you should be interested in what employees pay attention to about their job and to what degree.  Are they thinking about leaving for another company?  Which competitor and how much of the time do they do this?  Do they care about the important project?  How much and for the right reasons?

Using the 3 different aspects of attention as variables (Part 1: What is Attn?) we can begin to map the responses according to attention type.  A neat way to accomplish this was pioneered by Accenture for the AttentionScape explained in the book

Part 1: What is Attention?July 23 2008

This is part of a series that will explore what attention is, how we deal with it, and how it can be measured and focused. What is Attention?

Attention is a physical allotment of mental focus. Attention is limited as you only have so much; a zero sum game. Even attention you planned to use this weekend not doing anything is taken and not available for anything else.

Everyone uses and manipulates attention in their work, at play, in love and hate. You can push a co-worker’s button to get their cooperation. Procrastination is a lack of attention. Answering emails as they pop into your in-box diverts your attention from what you are doing, making it harder to re-focus your attention. Attention is everything you do; the filter or bottleneck to your mind.

Attention is made of three distinct types of focus:

Attractive/ Aversive: Is the product of applied attention good or bad? The carrot or stick part of ourselves. Are we focusing on something in hopes of reward or fear of the whip?

Front-of-the-mind/ Back-of-the-mind: Is this something that requires higher level brain processes? Like a hungry bear descending from above in a hang glider? You will pay attention to his rate of descent and trajectory. Or is it something that requires little mental capacity, like the level of force to apply to the accelerator at an intersection?

HypocrisyJune 18 2008

Undoubtedly, when this blog is analyzed for entry into the annuals of history, many will wonder why the attentionblog.com received so little attention for 3+ months starting in March?

The “Mortgage Crisis” can have a very real effect on where you spend your attention.  Especially when you work in a bank.

A renewed focus and new posts coming soon.

Banks to call out Microsoft on who has the biggest DataMarch 11 2008

Marshall Kirkpatrick explores an angle on how Microsoft may be able to introduce itself as a player in the online information racket with his post How Microsoft Can Beat Google on the Web: Take User Data to the Bank.

Microsoft could beat Google by embracing services the same way Google has but simultaneously building a strong bond of trust with users around protection and proper use of user data. Like a bank, for user data. I’d call this an emerging theory that not only I hold - what do you think?

Compelling strategery.  Microsoft is in a unique position to be able to place itself into this mix through sheer will.  If Microsoft wants to compete in aggregating info, then they shall.

 Now that the value of a customer’s habits and demographic info is outpacing the profits earned from the services the customer is using, companies are going to be willing to bend over backwards to monetize it.  There will be profit. Oh yes, there will be profit. 

Bank on the banks to take the lead on this.  First of all, they are in the right position; they know everything about you including paycheck amounts, your spending habits, etc.  They just need to convince society that it is ok to sell it.  Bribery (services and

Anonymous: Masters of Attention ManagementFebruary 29 2008

A group of loosely organized web users took what they viewed as “internet cenorship” and turned it into nationwide demonstrations outside of Scientology churches, denial of service attacks on their websites, publication of their private publications, and 6 O’Clock news coverage. A huge undertaking by any scale.

Rapidly directing actions on the web in a way that affects the most is a study in attention management. 4Chan was able to turn the internet’s attention to their “Project Chanology” in a viral way.

1. It was funny. Sites like 4Chan have had their hand in internet memes for awhile. Do an image search for lolcats or hackers on steroids you will get the idea. During early February, the inside jokes kept their user base (over 9000) in lock ste