Attention as currency: The case for epistemic injustice in social media’s attention economy

Date of Publication

2023

Document Type

Bachelor's Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts Major in Philosophy

Subject Categories

Philosophy

College

College of Liberal Arts

Department/Unit

Philosophy

Thesis Advisor

Mark Anthony L. Dacela

Defense Panel Member

Robert James M. Boyles
Napoleon M. Mabaquiao, Jr.
Elenita D. Garcia

Abstract/Summary

Social media consumers are in an economy where attention is commodified and valued as a scarce resource. This resource is then harnessed for its ability to be engaged and influenced with. This phenomenon is known as the attention economy. The "Hook Model" is a structural business model tailored to the attention economy and conceptualized by Nir Eyal, its theoretical design is integrated into the user interface of social media platforms that accommodate this market. This model capitalizes on attention through a trigger and reward system by incentivizing users to consume excessive content and then enabling overreliance, ultimately influencing the behavior of the consumers. I argue that this business model when integrated into social media platforms fosters epistemic injustice in the form of epistemic attention deficits. This model breeds structural discrimination, all while diminishing intellectual self-trust and inflicting epistemic harm. This argument goes beyond the mere examination of the attention economy’s noxiousness and its posed ethical dangers. Discussing the matter of epistemic injustice in social media’s attention economy emphasizes its imminent threats to knowledge, personhood, and the oppressive structure it enables to its consumers. I will be arguing for this stance based on the framework of Leonie Smith and Alfred Archer, who have proposed epistemic attention deficits to be a distinct form of epistemic injustice. I will be extending this framework into the realm of social media’s attention economy and the “Hook Model”, an aspect they have not covered within their own study. Clinton Castro and Adam Pham who initially discussed the noxiousness of the attention economy and the “Hook Model” did not extensively account for the consumer market’s susceptibility to epistemic injustice, which I will discuss. The “Hook Model” will continue to perpetuate epistemic harm, and unjust structural discrimination, while stimulating epistemic attention deficits in its users if it is not met with proper regulation and a more human-centric design.

Abstract Format

html

Language

English

Format

Electronic

Keywords

Epistemics; Discrimination; Social media

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Embargo Period

4-27-2023

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