The Attention Economy

Good reads and content to start your week.

This week’s good reads list focuses on the attention economy aspects of social media—how important attention is, how it’s abused, how to leverage it, and how the most successful attention entrepreneurs have found success. We’ve also included a video content section, which we think is apt considering our focus. This week’s will be helpful context for our forthcoming newsletter on Barstool Sports, a behemoth of young male-focused digital media. Enjoy!

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Articles

The New York Times - “Attention Is the Fuel of American Politics” by Ezra Klein (January 2025)

“Attention, not money, is now the fuel of American politics.” Jumping off from his podcast with Chris Hayes last week, Klein discusses how attention—particularly social media—is now political appeal's lifeblood. This is a synthesized version of their longer conversation on the attention economy, and the podcast itself is worth a listen.

The New York Times - “Financial Advice on Social Media is Growing. And Risky.” by Isabella Kwai (January 2025)

Legions of everyday investors are turning to YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram for money tips—trusting charismatic “fin-fluencers” with thousands of dollars (or more). The article shows how that confidence can backfire (obviously), with some influencers pushing risky strategies or deals they’re paid to promote. It underscores Klein’s point in the article above that the legal guardrails of this sector are dubious at best.

Bloomberg - “The Second Trump Presidency, Brought to You by YouTubers” by Davey Alba (January 2025)

A sweeping analysis of 2,000+ videos shows how massively popular podcasters (Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Logan Paul, etc.) helped sway a generation of young male voters toward Trump. Their freewheeling discussions mix politics, entertainment, and cultural grievances in a way that has proven remarkably effective at mobilizing support, leading some analysts to call them the “new mainstream.”

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Research

Harmony Labs - The Power of Story to Grow Democracy (January 2025)

In this brilliant phase 1 report, Harmony Labs researches how digital consumers internalize democracy-related content. They stretch the bounds of what “democracy-related” really means and dig into how important the values and tones of this content are, rather than the direct messages themselves. This is some of the best and most creative social media research I have seen yet and it is well worth your time.

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Content

YouTube - The Origin Story Of #1 Sports Podcast Pardon My Take (November 2024)

This mini-doc is a bit of a pre-read (pre-watch?) for next week’s newsletter on Barstool Sports and the cultural side of young men’s internet content. For those that don’t know, Pardon My Take is the biggest and most listened-to sports podcast on the planet. The show is under the Barstool Sports umbrella and has been a cornerstone of Barstool’s business for years. This mini-doc digs into the show's origin story and the early days of Barstool itself, offering a fascinating insight into how these pioneers of online content—who are rumored to make $180,000 each, per episode—think about how to generate attention, build an audience, and stay relevant in this lighting fast media environment. Disclaimer: This video is rife with very crude humor so use headphones if you’re at work. This is a newsletter about the internet, I never said it would all be high-brow commentary.