the engagement economy

The author argues that social media has shifted from an attention economy to an engagement economy, where platforms and creators optimize for measurable interaction rather than genuine attention. Engagement metrics such as watch time, shares, and likes are described as a proxy that loses aspects of attention, including social trust and implicit judgments of prestige. Creators such as MrBeast and Jubilee Media are named as examples of communicators who optimize for these numbers. The piece concludes that users should stay vigilant online and train themselves to look differently, recognizing manipulation and broadening their understanding of reality.