Objective: 

Learn about the economic factors and larger systems that drive tech companies to sell your attention and behavior to advertisers.

Competencies:

Be Curious and Investigate the World

Think Deeply

Express Ideas

Overview

The seemingly free social media products we use every day help us to stay connected, learn new things, and find information. But they also analyze our actions and the data we share, using what they learn about us to trick us into paying attention to them more than we want. They sell that attention—and ultimately changes in what we think and how we behave—to advertisers. These social media products are caught in a race to capture our attention in order to make money.

In this issue guide, you’ll learn: 

Why our attention is valuable to social media companies.

How that value shapes the design of products we use every day.

How the financial incentives of these products create harm to us and to society as a whole.

By understanding these key points, you’ll begin to see how you can help push for technology that aligns with humanity’s best interests.

Directions - You will Create an Infographic covering information from The Attention Economy

1. Read The Attention Economy

2. Read the activity directions (above) and complete the Infographic planning sheet (see Ms. Holly for a printed copy)

3. Create an infographic using Canva or Piktochart. Reference the tutorials embedded above. 

4. Publish your planning sheet and completed Infographic under "Responses"