Writers call for a movement to resist tech-driven 'human fracking' of attention

In a recent essay, D Graham Burnett, Alyssa Loh and Peter Schmidt argue that a linked set of technologies has transformed personhood worldwide and enabled what they call “human fracking” — a commercial extraction of human attention. They note it is estimated that nearly 70% of the global population has a smartphone, and that these devices make up about 95% of internet access points.

The authors compare the tactics of large digital platforms to petroleum fracking: pumping high‑pressure, high‑volume content into people’s faces to force attention to the surface so it can be monetised. They say this commodification of attention threatens care, thought and the conditions for human flourishing, harming children and adults and undermining deliberative politics and psychological wellbeing.

They also say existing responses are inadequate: regulatory efforts are piecemeal and opposed by powerful interests, and psychopharmacological approaches merely monetise the damage in another form. Drawing historical parallels with the rise of environmental politics and the campaign against tobacco, the authors argue that novel forms of exploitation can produce novel forms of resistance.

The writers — who describe themselves as members of the Friends of Attention coalition and co‑editors of ATTENSITY!

Key Topics

Tech, Human Fracking, Attention Economy, Big Tech, Smartphones, Social Media