Everyone is all a titter about Twitter at Princeton this Fox News story reports. But the associate director of the Center for Information Technology Policy at the university is reported to have said that he thought Twitter served primarily as a distraction for most of the site's users.
You can read the Fox News story from Tuesday, April 7th, here.
There's lots to think about in terms of the growing popularity of social networking. As David Robinson (Associate Director, Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University) is quoted as saying, "I think it's an interesting and deeply human phenomenon." Certainly Moses Ma has made that clear in his recent posts, such as Understanding the Psychology of Twitter. Social networking is a deeply human phenomenon.
I have only one point to add today, and that is based on another quote attributed to David Robinson. "In the long run, the real thing that's scarce on the internet is attention," . . . "We can't generate more time and attention, and I think that Twitter can be an interruption and distraction."
You know that I agree that Twitter can be an interruption and distraction, as I've written about it in terms of desultory behavior. The issue I want to address is the economics of attention in relation to the social networks that are competing for our time and attention. Moses Ma spoke of the economics of attention from personal experience in his most recent post writing, "With this power tool [Tweetdeck] and two large monitors, I was able to follow and keep up with a half dozen simultaneous conversations... all while monitoring email, Facebook and trying to get work done on the side" . . . and finally concluding, "Twitter really is a significant time sink, and honestly, I'm more Zen than zap these days. I prefer to be the mystic reflecting quietly on my life and coming up with 'My 25 List' on Facebook, than multitasking myself into a schizophrenic, shouting to everybody and nobody at the same time, listening to voices in the aether."
The economics of attention: An emotional investment in our networks?
A colleague of mine, Warren Thorngate, raised the issue of the economics of attention for me during my own graduate education. Warren has fleshed out a theory of the economics of attention with a number of axioms.
In his fourth axiom he writes, "Attention is invested in expectation of emotional returns . . . we tend to invest attention in situations for as long as they arouse, excite or interest us" (p. 264). Time will tell if these tools and the kind of social networking they provide will interest us enough. I think that Moses Ma's experience and reflections foreshadow the future for most people.
Reference
Thorngate, W. (1990). The economy of attention and the development of psychology. Canadian Psychology, 31 (3), 262-271.
