Featured image: People on smartphones - Photo by Camilo Jimenez on Unsplash Overview In an age of infinite scrolls, constant notifications, and algorithmic feeds designed to capture our attention, understanding and managing our relationship with digital technology has become essential. “The Battle for Attention” is an ongoing exploration of how modern technology platforms compete for our most valuable resource: our attention. The Attention Economy Our attention has become a commodity. Social media platforms, news sites, and digital services compete fiercely for our eyeballs and engagement.

The Concept Every Sunday, from midnight to midnight, I disconnect completely from social media. No Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram, no LinkedIn. One day per week, entirely “unsocial.” This isn’t a grand statement about technology being evil or social media being toxic. It’s a simple experiment: what happens when you regularly, predictably disconnect from the attention economy? Why Sundays? The choice of day is deliberate: Practical reasons: Minimal work obligations (academic life allows this) Social expectations lower (people don’t expect immediate responses) Natural rhythm (weekend, time for rest and reflection) Psychological reasons:

The Problem with Hate There’s a particular flavour of tech criticism that’s become fashionable: “I hate Facebook.” “Delete Facebook.” “Facebook is destroying democracy/our minds/civilization.” And look, the critiques aren’t wrong. Facebook’s business model is fundamentally problematic. Their algorithmic amplification of outrage is documented. The privacy violations are real. The psychological manipulation is deliberate. But here’s the thing: I still love Facebook. Not in the sense that I approve of their business practices or think they’re a net positive for society.

The Long-Form Rebellion In an age of TikTok, Twitter, and infinite-scroll feeds, I’ve rediscovered something wonderfully anachronistic: podcasts. Not the new 8-minute “snackable” podcasts designed for attention-span-challenged audiences, but the original kind – hour-long, unedited conversations that meander, pause, and sometimes go nowhere in particular. And it’s been revelatory. What Makes Podcasts Different They’re Long A typical podcast episode is 45-90 minutes. That’s an eternity in digital-attention terms. You can’t consume a podcast in the gaps between other activities.

The world is becoming evermore precise - well at least our desire to measure it, quantify it, model it with ever more precision, is increasing. But it’s time to step back and think about just what these models are intended to accomplish. Our work on ‘attention approximation’ is all about understanding where people are placing their attention - while realising that there is a level of precision, moving above which, renders the model we are trying to create, useless - unfit for purpose.