Everyone knows the situation when your phone beeps at work with a text message or a message on WhatsApp or another app. Reading the message often prompts us to check other communication platforms as well, and a quick glance at social media turns into several minutes. Our work comes to a standstill and time flies by.
It's even worse for those who have to work on social networks. However, it's not just about the direct consequences of reduced working hours, but also long-term consequences such as concentration problems. How many of us have managed to immerse ourselves in a book for several hours without checking our smartphone every half hour?
The attention industry has a negative impact on the economy
The new lifestyle, which largely takes place in virtual space, not only brings about social changes, but also has a significant economic impact.
The French Ministry of Finance recently published an interesting document that attempts to quantify the economic damage caused by new technologies to the local economy. The study concludes that we are currently losing 0.2 percent of GDP due to deteriorating mental health and another 0.4 percent due to wasted working time. However, the long-term effects will be even worse.
The greatest impact of new technologies lies in the weakening of cognitive abilities, which can account for 1.4 to 2.3 percent of GDP annually. Overall, there is therefore a risk that the negative effects of technology could lead to losses of 2.3 to 2.9 percent of GDP in the future. It could be argued that these figures are hypothetical assumptions, but the actual impact could be even more serious. The key thing is to recognize that this connection exists.
Attention as an economic weapon
From this perspective, harmless procrastination on smartphones appears to be an effective economic weapon. The more time people spend on social networks and in the virtual world, the greater the impact on their cognitive abilities and thus on their future competitiveness.
Of course, one could argue that the benefits of these technologies outweigh their negative effects. However, this does not change the fact that the attention economy is based on the principle that users should spend as much time as possible on the platform, because more time means more money from advertising.
This principle is widespread in most areas of the media. What has changed radically, however, is the ability to analyze the behavior of each individual user. Algorithms are now able to tailor content to each individual. The battle for our attention has thus become fiercer, as the “enemy” can adapt to each and every one of us.
Large companies do not hesitate to invest enormous resources in behavioral studies in order to make content even more attractive and get us to spend more time than necessary in front of the screen. At the same time, the French Ministry of Finance recognizes that advertising contributes to GDP.
In the land of the Gallic rooster, €9 billion is invested in advertising every year, generating €32 billion in revenue. While this is positive, one may wonder whether the goods sold thanks to advertising actually improve quality of life.
Various negative effects of the attention industry
The study provides a detailed insight into how the attention industry harms the economy. The primary damage is wasted working time. But it's not just that—employees are less efficient and make more mistakes when they return to their work repeatedly. Some studies even claim that the mere presence of a smartphone on the desk impairs concentration.
As far as the effects on memory are concerned, the conclusions are not clear-cut. Proponents of modern technologies emphasize that their use improves transitive memory, which is used to search for information. The internet also makes it possible to “clear” the memory, as you don't have to remember everything at once. However, the negative effect is obvious: there is no reason to memorize anything when you can look everything up immediately.
The greatest risks concern children, as the older generation developed their work and cognitive habits before the widespread use of smartphones. Children, whose habits are still developing, are the most vulnerable.
The 2022 PISA study shows that students who use their smartphones intensively at school (more than three hours per day) achieve PISA results in mathematics that are 30 to 50 points lower than students who use their smartphones only moderately (less than two hours per day), after taking into account the socioeconomic profile of the students and schools.
Overall, these students may see a decline in their PISA scores of 90 to 150 points, which could lead to a long-term decline in productivity of 5 to 8 percent. If all children were affected by intensive smartphone use, this could lead to a long-term loss of GDP of between 4.5 and 7.5 percent.
These figures are higher than originally assumed. The negative effects are not limited to education. Smartphones rob time for good sleep and leisure activities such as sports, leading to a decline in work ethic and productivity.
How can the problem be solved?
The French Ministry of Finance proposes solutions such as creating a regulatory framework, limiting the age limit for unrestricted use of platforms, introducing an electronic identity, or setting up a commission to monitor the protection of children from addiction.
These proposals reflect the typical approach of the state apparatus and will soon fail due to their ineffectiveness in solving complex social problems. In addition, low competition in the technology sector limits the development of less harmful products, and the possibilities for avoiding services that sell advertising are limited.
The real way forward is to raise awareness of the consequences of excessive use of technology and to strengthen personal responsibility, especially that of parents, who play a key role in raising a digitally aware generation.