The Marketplace of Attention Lib/E: How Audiences Take Shape in a Digital Age

by James G. Webster

How do media find an audience when there is an endless supply of content but a limited supply of public attention? Feature films, television shows, homemade videos, tweets, blogs, and breaking digital media offer an always-accessible, apparently inexhaustible supply of entertainment and information. Although choices seems endless, public attention is not. How do digital media find the audiences they need in an era of infinite choice? In The Marketplace of Attention , James Webster explains how audiences take shape in the digital age. Webster describes the factors that create audiences, including the preferences and habits of media users, the role of social networks, the resources and strategies of media providers, and the growing impact of media measures—from ratings to user recommendations. He incorporates these factors into one comprehensive the marketplace of attention. In doing so, he shows that the marketplace works in ways that belie our greatest hopes and fears about digital media. Some observers claim that digital media empower a new participatory culture; others fear that digital media encourage users to retreat to isolated enclaves. Webster shows that public attention is at once diverse and concentrated—that users move across a variety of outlets, producing high levels of audience overlap. So although audiences are fragmented in ways that would astonish midcentury broadcasting executives, Webster argues that this doesn't signal polarization. He questions whether our preferences are immune from media influence, and he describes how our encounters with media might change our tastes. In the digital era's marketplace of attention, Webster claims, we typically encounter ideas that cut across our predispositions. In the process, we will remake the marketplace of ideas and reshape the twenty-first century public sphere.

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Kate prefers books to people · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was decent. I considered a lower rating, but then I realized that this book actually delivered everything it advertised and my disappointment was my own problem because I wanted it to answer questions it didn't set out to address.

I liked the idea of people in one’s circle forming a filter. It’s frustrating when you think of trying to communicate ideas to a bigger audience, but it’s also reassuring because it means that anyone can have an impact by speaking up and sharing their ideas. I guess the simplistic take away here is yes, echo chambers exist and can be bad, but also you can break them up by making friends with people who think different than you do.

I would have liked for this book to address what happens when the major media platforms are fostering their own ideologies, but that goes a bit beyond the scope here.

[Olivia Beeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not a super light read, but that doesn't take too much away from the great analysis Webster provides of the marketplace of attention. A little theory heavy, but overall a great book whether you're studying the production of culture or just want to understand how media works.

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

An absolute snore. Academic, maybe could have been relevant like when the internet became popular but wow it was boring and useless.

[Yasmine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn’t get through this. I pushed, so very hard. But it just wasn’t worth it.