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Course: Social media literacy > Unit 2
Lesson 2: How the attention economy shapes social mediaReflection activity: Social media and your attention
What are you giving away to social media companies?
Reflection activity
Reread Shoshana Zuboff's quote from the previous article:
“This is what every business has always dreamt of: to have a guarantee that if it places an ad, it will be successful. That’s their [social media companies’] business. They sell certainty. In order to be successful in that business, you have to have great predictions. Great predictions begin with one imperative: you need a lot of data.”
–Shoshana Zuboff, professor and author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism in The Social Dilemma
🤔 CONSIDER AND DISCUSS:
In Shoshana Zuboff’s quote above, she says that the ability to guarantee a successful ad is “what every business has always dreamt of.”
Why is this ability to make predictions accurately so valuable to businesses?
Now, take a look at the apps you use the most. Consider the things you post and the way you use the app.
- What do you think the app could know about you?
- How do you think that knowledge helps them sell advertising?
- How do you think they use that information to keep you engaged?
Want to join the conversation?
-They apps I use would know my age, the kind of things I am interested in based off the posts I like or anything I post or I'm tagged in.
-The knowlegde helps them to see what people of my age demographic or gender mostly like.
-They use this knowlegde to sell products that I would mostly buy. And they alter my feed so that it may show things I am mostly interested in.(8 votes)
I believe they know all of the information I originally gave them, and they can infer my interests and opinions based off what I watch, like, and comment on. Personally, I don't believe this information helps them advertise to me, mainly because my interests are not things that they can target me for, but I do think many people get ads that are personalized to them. I think they use information they know to give me a personalized selection of content, which is not necessarily a bad thing but does keep me engaged more versus having to find said content myself.(5 votes)- Your interests as well as your face, I believe it helps them sell advertisements by showing your different interests that you like. They use that information to keep you engaged because it shows things you are interested in and allows you to browse through other things.(4 votes)
1. What type of media you like, your gender, your age group, etc.
2. They can see what the majority of people like
3. They can personalize your experience by using the data they collected(3 votes)
Your location, your face, your photos and files, and your email and phone number
I think it helps them sell advertising by making fake deals
They make things for a cheaper price and make you think its real.(3 votes)- 1-where we live who we talk t what we do 2-they know how to attract a audience 3-they do everything they can to make you want it(3 votes)
- 1. An app could know every little thing about you, ranging from physical aspects like your location to your religious/political beliefs. Digital footprint go crazy
2. This knowledge can be very influential for advertising. That is why some social media implement user-based ads to help sell stuff
3. They show you what you, appeasement(3 votes) 
My social media use per day totals to 5 hours. It doesn't feel like I've used social media for 5 hours. My content is so personalized it's actually physically difficult to put my phone down.(2 votes)
1. The apps I would use would know my age, the things I am interested in listening to and/or watching.
2. the app I would use would know my appearance and some main others.
3. They would most likely try and show products I am interested in and it engages me to either buy them and/or ask my parents to buy them for me.(2 votes)
1. Where we live using location, people we talk to, and the stuff we do.
2. They know how to attract more people.
3. It will find a way to maintain you entertained.(2 votes)