Comments on: AttentionTrust - Returning Attention to its Rightful Owner: You http://bokardo.com/archives/attentiontrust-returning-attention-to-its-rightful-owner/ A Blog about Social Web Design Fri, 21 Nov 2008 06:10:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Attention as a Commodity at hasLayout http://bokardo.com/archives/attentiontrust-returning-attention-to-its-rightful-owner/#comment-118788 Attention as a Commodity at hasLayout Sun, 15 Apr 2007 19:24:22 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=263#comment-118788 [...] Herman Simon once said: “What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.”(via Bokardo). [...] [...] Herman Simon once said: “What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention, and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among the overabundance of information sources that might consume it.”(via Bokardo). [...]

]]> By: Mike http://bokardo.com/archives/attentiontrust-returning-attention-to-its-rightful-owner/#comment-7314 Mike Wed, 19 Apr 2006 11:17:25 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=263#comment-7314 We eat, sleep, and breathe attenttoin data - or what we call "attention streams" - and the benefits to users will go well beyond better more targeted advertising. We are utilizing attention stream data now (a lightweight transient superset of what attention.xml is all about) and at the end of the day users will automatically get fewer, more relevant and re-prioritized articles (not feeds, ARTICLES) We chatted with Seth today and we support attentiontrust wholeheartedly. We eat, sleep, and breathe attenttoin data - or what we call “attention streams” - and the benefits to users will go well beyond better more targeted advertising. We are utilizing attention stream data now (a lightweight transient superset of what attention.xml is all about) and at the end of the day users will automatically get fewer, more relevant and re-prioritized articles (not feeds, ARTICLES) We chatted with Seth today and we support attentiontrust wholeheartedly.

]]> By: Chad Finsterwald http://bokardo.com/archives/attentiontrust-returning-attention-to-its-rightful-owner/#comment-2107 Chad Finsterwald Tue, 15 Nov 2005 15:05:01 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=263#comment-2107 I think the difference between "Attention" and "Privacy" is the idea that "Attention" is a commodity. It is something you can sell, trade, buy, etc.. "Privacy," on the other hand, is a right or, at the very least, cannot be sold. I think this is an important distinction and I agree with Josh that the "Attention Economy" is a place where users need to exercise more control. Companies have been buying and selling our attention with no benefit or compensation to the user. To the contrary, we users often suffer when their attention is sold in the form of unsolicited telemarketing calls, spam, etc. I think the difference between “Attention” and “Privacy” is the idea that “Attention” is a commodity. It is something you can sell, trade, buy, etc.. “Privacy,” on the other hand, is a right or, at the very least, cannot be sold.

I think this is an important distinction and I agree with Josh that the “Attention Economy” is a place where users need to exercise more control. Companies have been buying and selling our attention with no benefit or compensation to the user. To the contrary, we users often suffer when their attention is sold in the form of unsolicited telemarketing calls, spam, etc.

]]> By: Noah Brier http://bokardo.com/archives/attentiontrust-returning-attention-to-its-rightful-owner/#comment-2012 Noah Brier Fri, 11 Nov 2005 17:28:22 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=263#comment-2012 This is the best description of AttentionTrust I've read, thanks Joshua. This is the best description of AttentionTrust I’ve read, thanks Joshua.

]]> By: Essays on Internet Marketing » Pay Attention! http://bokardo.com/archives/attentiontrust-returning-attention-to-its-rightful-owner/#comment-1989 Essays on Internet Marketing » Pay Attention! Thu, 10 Nov 2005 00:09:39 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=263#comment-1989 [...] Who’s paying attention to you? [...] [...] Who’s paying attention to you? [...]

]]> By: Ed Batista http://bokardo.com/archives/attentiontrust-returning-attention-to-its-rightful-owner/#comment-1962 Ed Batista Fri, 04 Nov 2005 00:23:40 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=263#comment-1962 Hi Joshua, I'm the Executive Director of AttentionTrust. Great post, and thanks for the thoughtful consideration. I just pointed to it from the <a href="http://attentiontrust.org/node/70" rel="nofollow">AttentionTrust blog</a>. I appreciate Prentiss's comment above. Our site and our message definitely need work. (Any Drupal experts want to lend a hand? Please <a href="http://www.attentiontrust.org/contact" rel="nofollow">contact me</a>.) But we're putting users' rights on the agenda, and that's a start. I agree firmly with Pete that there's a relationship between attention and privacy, but they're really two different things, just as there's a relationship between attention and identity, but they're also distinct. To oversimply things, the privacy debate is almost always framed as preventing Them (whoever They might be) from gaining access to our data. But They already have access to our attention data. Our search histories, purchase histories, our entire clickstream (and plenty of offline attention data as well) is all being used by marketers and pollsters and all sorts of folks. AttentionTrust is trying to give users control over their attention data not simply to restrict access to it, but to enable users to participate actively in the "attention economy" by exchanging their data for something of value to them (as Joshua ably describes above.) I'm just scratching the surface here, but I look forward to hearing more from all of you. Thanks again. Ed Hi Joshua,

I’m the Executive Director of AttentionTrust. Great post, and thanks for the thoughtful consideration. I just pointed to it from the AttentionTrust blog.

I appreciate Prentiss’s comment above. Our site and our message definitely need work. (Any Drupal experts want to lend a hand? Please contact me.) But we’re putting users’ rights on the agenda, and that’s a start.

I agree firmly with Pete that there’s a relationship between attention and privacy, but they’re really two different things, just as there’s a relationship between attention and identity, but they’re also distinct.

To oversimply things, the privacy debate is almost always framed as preventing Them (whoever They might be) from gaining access to our data. But They already have access to our attention data. Our search histories, purchase histories, our entire clickstream (and plenty of offline attention data as well) is all being used by marketers and pollsters and all sorts of folks.

AttentionTrust is trying to give users control over their attention data not simply to restrict access to it, but to enable users to participate actively in the “attention economy” by exchanging their data for something of value to them (as Joshua ably describes above.)

I’m just scratching the surface here, but I look forward to hearing more from all of you. Thanks again.

Ed

]]> By: PeteCashmore http://bokardo.com/archives/attentiontrust-returning-attention-to-its-rightful-owner/#comment-1959 PeteCashmore Thu, 03 Nov 2005 19:06:30 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=263#comment-1959 I think we've got to accept that privacy doesn't really exist in the form it did ten years ago. In order to benefit from the wealth of information and connections out there, we've got to sacrifice a lot of what we used to call "privacy". Ever posted on a forum? What about a job posting, or a comment on a blog? And if you have your own blog, you're throwing all your thoughts out into the world, accompanied by your contact details. "Attention" describes what you do and what interests you - it is a part of your identity. So if Amazon has a database on all your product choices (from which they can infer your interests and future purchases), it could be argued that they own your identity. I think Prentiss is right to be skeptical, and I'm not even sure myself what the difference between attention and privacy might be. But here's a suggestion: attention refers to implicit data. It's only recently that we've had the ability to record data about users that is not explicitly stated through a submitted form - this act of entering data allowed the user to know exactly what information he was submitting. With implicit data, we have no idea what is being recorded. But this answer is fairly insufficient - I'm sure Ed Batista of Attention Trust could do a much better job! By the way, did you see the article about MSNad Center? It seems to be related to all these attention ideas. More here: <a href="http://mashable.com/2005/11/01/should-search-engines-log-your-search-history/ ">http://mashable.com/2005/11/01/should-search-engines-log-your-search-history/</a> I think we’ve got to accept that privacy doesn’t really exist in the form it did ten years ago. In order to benefit from the wealth of information and connections out there, we’ve got to sacrifice a lot of what we used to call “privacy”. Ever posted on a forum? What about a job posting, or a comment on a blog? And if you have your own blog, you’re throwing all your thoughts out into the world, accompanied by your contact details.

“Attention” describes what you do and what interests you - it is a part of your identity. So if Amazon has a database on all your product choices (from which they can infer your interests and future purchases), it could be argued that they own your identity.

I think Prentiss is right to be skeptical, and I’m not even sure myself what the difference between attention and privacy might be. But here’s a suggestion: attention refers to implicit data. It’s only recently that we’ve had the ability to record data about users that is not explicitly stated through a submitted form - this act of entering data allowed the user to know exactly what information he was submitting. With implicit data, we have no idea what is being recorded. But this answer is fairly insufficient - I’m sure Ed Batista of Attention Trust could do a much better job!

By the way, did you see the article about MSNad Center? It seems to be related to all these attention ideas. More here:

http://mashable.com/2005/11/01/should-search-engines-log-your-search-history/

]]> By: Josh http://bokardo.com/archives/attentiontrust-returning-attention-to-its-rightful-owner/#comment-1957 Josh Thu, 03 Nov 2005 16:46:39 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=263#comment-1957 Prentiss, I think you bring up some great points. I don't know exactly how this relates to privacy, but I do know that AttentionTrust is about empowering people, about people controlling their own attention metadata. I suppose you could equally say that it's about people controlling the appropriate level of privacy they wish to enjoy. Prentiss, I think you bring up some great points. I don’t know exactly how this relates to privacy, but I do know that AttentionTrust is about empowering people, about people controlling their own attention metadata. I suppose you could equally say that it’s about people controlling the appropriate level of privacy they wish to enjoy.

]]> By: Prentiss Riddle http://bokardo.com/archives/attentiontrust-returning-attention-to-its-rightful-owner/#comment-1955 Prentiss Riddle Thu, 03 Nov 2005 16:02:04 +0000 http://bokardo.com/?p=263#comment-1955 I'm skeptical: why is the collection of my user behavior suddenly being called an issue of "attention" instead of the long-standing issue of "privacy"? Doesn't that confuse the matter with other abuses of my attention that don't necessarily involve recording my behavior, most notably spam but also other forms of intrusive advertising and bad web design in general? Furthermore, what does the AttentionTrust pledge accomplish? When I read their site I can't even tell what they're talking about; I can't imagine their effort in its present form will successfully get anyone in the industry to take the pledge and clean up their act. I think this whole topic would be better served by recasting it in the language we've been using for years: privacy, including the privacy of my surfing behavior; and attention, including the abuse of my attention by spam and other noise. I’m skeptical: why is the collection of my user behavior suddenly being called an issue of “attention” instead of the long-standing issue of “privacy”? Doesn’t that confuse the matter with other abuses of my attention that don’t necessarily involve recording my behavior, most notably spam but also other forms of intrusive advertising and bad web design in general?

Furthermore, what does the AttentionTrust pledge accomplish? When I read their site I can’t even tell what they’re talking about; I can’t imagine their effort in its present form will successfully get anyone in the industry to take the pledge and clean up their act.

I think this whole topic would be better served by recasting it in the language we’ve been using for years: privacy, including the privacy of my surfing behavior; and attention, including the abuse of my attention by spam and other noise.

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