Attention wars, psychopower and platform environments: An autoethnographic study on BeReal

• Published in: Emotion, space and society Vol. 52; p. 101026
• Main Authors: Rovira Martorell, Joan, Tirado, Francisco, Gálvez, Ana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-08-2024
• Subjects: Attention; Autoethnography; BeReal; Hook model; Psychopower; Psychopower; Autoethnography; BeReal; Hook model; Attention
• DOI: 10.1016/j.emospa.2024.101026
• ISSN: 1755-4586

The last two decades have seen an attention war play out between digital platforms, with social media as the main battleground. This has led to the development of techniques such as the hook model to capture users' attention and subconsciously direct their behaviour towards private ends. Bernard Stiegler has called this new form of governance “psychopower”. Drawing on autoethnographic research, this paper presents an analysis of the social media platform BeReal, focusing on the role of the platform's environment design in capturing users' attention. Our findings show that the platform succeeds in holding users' attention through nudges and habit formation. We also found a strong link between attention capture, emotional exchange and the experience of affects.
•Today there is a war for attention and social networks are the main battlefield.•There is a lack of study on how the architecture of social networks is designed to capture the attention of users unconsciously.•The capture of attention is related to the exercise of what Stiegler called psychopower. In the digital world the Hook Model is the main tool for this purpose.•Our results show that the platform relies on habit formation and the use of nudges to direct individuals' attention.