The feedback loop where behavior becomes data, data becomes prediction and prediction becomes influence
You interact online
Likes, pauses, comments, shares, even how long you hover over a post
Not neutral; Signal
Patterns establish
Models don’t need to “understand” you, they just need to know
what keeps you engaged
what escalates emotional response
what makes you come back
The algorithm adapts
It optimizes your data to maximize time, attention and reaction
It’s about retention
We are both user and product
Users consume content
the product is your attention, preferences
sold to data brokers and internal growth metric analysis firms
advertisers and political campaigns
If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product
The system
shows you more of what worked before
narrows your exposure
subtly shapes your future behavior
profits or gains votes
Amplifies want, outrage, fear, identity signaling and tribal thinking
Algorithms condition behavior
Once a platform learns
what makes you angry
feel seen
Joy
what makes you feel threatened
makes you want to buy
It steers attention automatically
Behavioral nudging with asymmetric power
The political economy of attention
Attention is a resource
power and money flows to whoever captures and controls it
institutions are built to extract, trade and weaponize it