Attention Merchants

by Tim Wu

Here’s the Deal

Twin Rivers District School was very poor, and was approached by a company called “Education Funding Partners”, who offered them $500,000 a year paid for by corporate contributions, under the condition that Twin Rivers would allow corporate advertising. Tim argues that “Advertisers have long coveted direct access to the young, who are impressionable and easier to influence. Establishing a warm association with Coca-Cola or McDonald’s at an early age can yield payoffs that last a lifetime-or, in the lingo, “drive purchase decisions and build brand awareness.””

This book talks about whether or not the advertisements that we are constantly subject to should be considered the norm. The power of mass attention can be seen in World War 2, when British War Propagandists were able to convince people into participating in a war that killed millions of people, which tainted the way people thought about propaganda. Taking human attention and selling it to others have created a great way to make money. Even when we are looking at our smart phone’s, we are constantly being advertised to.

“We must reflect that, when we reach the end of our days, our life experience will equal what we have paid attention to, whether by choice or default. We are at risk, without quite fully realizing it, of living lives that are less our own than we imagine. “

The Temenos

This text carries on the previous discussion about advertising, but takes it to the present/post 2010s, where advertisements are more easily avoidable through means of Ad block and paying for services like Spotify, Netflix, and YouTube Red. It talks about how through the 1960s, there was a revolt against commercialism, though, “Attention Merchants” always found ways around the revolts to advertise more subliminally and effectively. Throughout the past, we’ve fought to reclaim natural resources, but this text argues that in the coming future, we will need to think about the conservation and protection of our own consciousness and mental space.

“Even for a weekend, it can be painful to resist deeply ingrained habits like checking email, Facebook, and other social media; browsing random news stories, let alone more titillating click bait; or flopping onto the couch to channel surf for a few hours. The difficulty reflects years of conditioning and the attention merchants’ determination to maximize, by any means possible, the time spent with them”

Personally, I think that Tim is painting a picture that whenever we are on our phones or computers browsing the internet, that we are constantly subjecting ourselves to advertisements and click bait, and that these evil creatures described as “Attention Merchants” are making profit from us constantly checking our devices, however, I believe that with the presence of ad block and advertisement awareness, we have become more immune as a society to the temptations of advertisements, particularly because of our wide range of options when it comes to brands and products.

Perspective and Social Distance

Social Distance refers to “more business-like and formal interactions, keeping people ‘at arm’s length”, whereas Public Distance is for larger and more formal group interactions. Within film sizing, personal distance is represented with only head and shoulders in vision, which can also correspond with a close shot. This creates an imaginary intimacy with what is being represented, while medium shots create a more formal kind of imaginary relation. With Social Distance, we see the entire character’s body, with a bit of space around them, corresponding with the long shot, Edward Hall says that “people filmed with a longshot are addressed as though they’re people that are not part of their world”

Perspective and Sound

“Sound dubbing technicians in radio and film divide the soundtrack into three zones – dose, middle and far distance. These are ‘the ‘Immediate’, the ‘Support’ and the ‘Background’. The chief thing to bear in mind is that the ‘Immediate’ effect is to be listened to, while the ‘Support’ and the ‘Background’ effects are merely co be heard …” In this way, sound can work like a picture, having backgrounds, midgrounds and foregrounds. Backgrounds include atmospheric sounds, like a gentle breeze rustling the trees, or the sound of rain, whereas the midground could be cars driving past, the chatter of a crowd, or a barking of a faraway dog. Lastly, foreground includes whatever is being focused on, like a commentator or conversation being had. Terms differ for these methods of layering sounds.

Hifi and Lofi soundscapes (Fidelity)

“Hifi soundscapes allow discrete sounds to be heard from a great distance because of the low ambient noise level. Think of a very quiet library, where you can hear someone pick up a pen or turn a page from twenty-five metres away. In lofi soundscapes, on the other hand, individual sounds get blurred, obscured in a tangle, a wall of sound which may be as close to the listener as the other side of the street. In such soundscapes perspective is lost and amplification becomes necessary if one wants to be heard. “-Murray Schafer

Sound and Social Distance

Sound can relate to how close we feel with who is talking to us, the text refers to how people speak more softly to people they feel close to, and more loud and sharp to people who we feel distant from. The same can actually go for music. For example, a lot of pop music such as Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk” can feel a lot less personal than some of Chet Baker “I get along without you very well”

Summary

Intimate distance: Soft voices, even whispering, creating intimate relationship with listener

Personal Distance: relaxed voice, low pitch and volume, creating friend like relationship

Informal Distance: Business like, and informal encounter, proper and full voice, high volume

Formal Distance: Projected tense, overloud voice, like giving a speech

Public Distance: Amplified speaking