Leo T. reviewed The Attention Merchants: The Epic Scramble to Get Inside Our Heads on + 1775 more book reviews
Mr. Wu was on KCRW at noontime (11/10/2016) to flog his book and it sounded quite interesting.
8/24/2020 got a copy! Mr. Wu opens with the successful efforts to allow commercial advertising in some school districts as a recent example of how "nearly every bit of of our lives is commercially exploited to the extent it can be."
"This book explains how our current state of affairs came to be. It is the consquence of the dramatic and impressive rise of an industry that barely existed a century ago: the Attention Merchants. Since its inception, the attention industry, in its many forms, has asked and gained more and more of our waking moments, albeit always in exchange for new conveniences and diversions, creating a grand bargain that has transformed our lives. In the process, as a society and individually, we have accepted a life experience that is in all its dimensions--economic, political, social, any way you can think of--mediated as never before in human history. And if each bargain in isolation seems a win-win, in their grand totality they have come to exert a more ambiguous though profound influence on how we live."
There is succinct coverage not only of the Internet Era but of previous advertising methods, starting with the New York Sun, posters, and the efforts that brought in so many volunteers to support Lord Kitchener. Sadly, there are no illustrations of the 'I need you' recruiting poster, the patent medicines, and the applicances sold to 1920s and 1930s homes. The author connects the techniques of a century or more ago to present advertising methods. Mr. Wu does find a ways to mention (flog) his earlier book, 'Master Switch.'
Considering the 21st C.: "While promising to be 'helpful' or 'thoughtful,' what was delivered was often experienced as 'intrusive' and worse. Some ads seemed more like stalkers than valets: if, say, you'd been looking for a pair of shoes on Amazon, an ad for just those shoes would begin following you around the web, prodding you to take another look at them. What was meant to be 'relevant' to your wishes and interests turned out to be more of a studied exploitation of one's weaknesses. The oveerweight were presented with diet aids; the gadget-obsessed plied with the latest doodads; gamblers encouraged to bet; and so on. One man, after receiving a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, found himself followed everywhere with 'insensitive and tasteless' ads for funeral services. The theoretical idea that customers might welcome or enjoy such soliicitations increasingly seemed like a bad joke."
The author takes the reader step by step through the changes. For example, in 'the importance of being famous,' Rex Sorgatz shares how he came to NYC from the Coast in 2008 and found a different milieu. On the Coast the author of the best algorithm was celebrated (and enriched), but he found in the East people seeking to be 'Internet famous.' "'Microfame has its own distinct species of celebrity, one in which both the subject and the fans participate directly in the celebrity's creation. Microfame extends beyond a creator's body of work to include a community that leaves comments, publishes reaction videos, sends e-mails, and builds Internet reputations with links.'"
Extensive notes, index.
8/24/2020 got a copy! Mr. Wu opens with the successful efforts to allow commercial advertising in some school districts as a recent example of how "nearly every bit of of our lives is commercially exploited to the extent it can be."
"This book explains how our current state of affairs came to be. It is the consquence of the dramatic and impressive rise of an industry that barely existed a century ago: the Attention Merchants. Since its inception, the attention industry, in its many forms, has asked and gained more and more of our waking moments, albeit always in exchange for new conveniences and diversions, creating a grand bargain that has transformed our lives. In the process, as a society and individually, we have accepted a life experience that is in all its dimensions--economic, political, social, any way you can think of--mediated as never before in human history. And if each bargain in isolation seems a win-win, in their grand totality they have come to exert a more ambiguous though profound influence on how we live."
There is succinct coverage not only of the Internet Era but of previous advertising methods, starting with the New York Sun, posters, and the efforts that brought in so many volunteers to support Lord Kitchener. Sadly, there are no illustrations of the 'I need you' recruiting poster, the patent medicines, and the applicances sold to 1920s and 1930s homes. The author connects the techniques of a century or more ago to present advertising methods. Mr. Wu does find a ways to mention (flog) his earlier book, 'Master Switch.'
Considering the 21st C.: "While promising to be 'helpful' or 'thoughtful,' what was delivered was often experienced as 'intrusive' and worse. Some ads seemed more like stalkers than valets: if, say, you'd been looking for a pair of shoes on Amazon, an ad for just those shoes would begin following you around the web, prodding you to take another look at them. What was meant to be 'relevant' to your wishes and interests turned out to be more of a studied exploitation of one's weaknesses. The oveerweight were presented with diet aids; the gadget-obsessed plied with the latest doodads; gamblers encouraged to bet; and so on. One man, after receiving a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, found himself followed everywhere with 'insensitive and tasteless' ads for funeral services. The theoretical idea that customers might welcome or enjoy such soliicitations increasingly seemed like a bad joke."
The author takes the reader step by step through the changes. For example, in 'the importance of being famous,' Rex Sorgatz shares how he came to NYC from the Coast in 2008 and found a different milieu. On the Coast the author of the best algorithm was celebrated (and enriched), but he found in the East people seeking to be 'Internet famous.' "'Microfame has its own distinct species of celebrity, one in which both the subject and the fans participate directly in the celebrity's creation. Microfame extends beyond a creator's body of work to include a community that leaves comments, publishes reaction videos, sends e-mails, and builds Internet reputations with links.'"
Extensive notes, index.
