CTRL+ALT+DELETE: Navigating the Attention Economy Without Losing Yourself

In July 2025, I submitted the final project for my Master of Digital and Social Media at Curtin University, which was for the unit NETS5010 Graduate Web Media. It marked the end of a four-year part-time online academic journey filled with learning, unlearning, and self-discovery. The final artefact? A three-minute video titled CTRL+ALT+DELETE: Are You Being Controlled by Your Feed? A reflective digital media piece exploring the paradox of today’s attention economy.

This blog builds on that piece, offering lessons and provocations for the small business owner and creator who finds themselves in a modern conundrum: constantly creating, publishing, and promoting, all while being lured by the very systems they are trying to master.

You can also listen to a deeper conversation on this topic in Episode 077 of The Tourism Hub Podcast: CTRL+ALT+DELETE: AI, Algorithms & the Attention Economy, now streaming on your favourite podcast platform.

The Attention Economy Is Not Just a Theory, It’s Your Reality

You don’t need a marketing degree to feel it. The pressure to show up, post consistently, ride trends, and "feed the algorithm" is palpable. The average person scrolls the length of an AFL football field each day (Dentsu, 2024). That’s not leisure, that’s labour.

Crystal Abidin (2018) reminds us that attention is a scarce resource in the digital age, one that is negotiated, extracted, and commercialised. But unlike traditional resources, it’s not just taken from consumers. It’s also demanded of creators, especially those of us who are also small business owners, mentors, parents, and community leaders. For over a decade, I’ve built an entire training business around the principles of discoverability, optimisation, and decoding social media, long before I even fully understood the vocabulary of algorithms, data privacy, or that our attention itself was becoming the most valuable digital commodity. Back then, it was all opportunity. And to be clear, it still is, but now, we must take back control.

The attention economy demands that we are always "on." That we produce to be seen. That we optimise to be found. That we share to be remembered. In this context, attention has become the new offline. Once, to be offline meant being disconnected. Today, having control over your attention and disconnecting from the algorithm long enough to think is a revolutionary act. It’s a form of reclaiming agency in a digital environment designed to overwhelm.

This phenomenon contributes to one of the most unspoken crises in small businesses and content creation: burnout. Burnout from being hyper-visible. Burnout from always being "on." Burnout from creating without feeling seen. It’s not just fatigue, it’s erosion.

The Conundrum: Creator and Consumer, Master and Servant

Here lies the paradox: small business owners must use digital platforms to gain attention, build trust, and drive growth. However, in doing so, they also become part of the machine, conditioned to produce content that performs, rather than necessarily content that matters.

Mandile (2025) goes further, explaining that mindless scrolling is not a bug, it’s a feature. Platforms are engineered to keep us engaged, which means the more we create, the more we consume. The more we consume, the more likely we are to replicate. This cycle shapes not only what we post, but who we become.

We are both leveraging and being leveraged by the algorithm. Giving and receiving attention. Seeking and surrendering. This is not a healthy business model, it is a treadmill dressed as a growth strategy.

Watch the original RWMC video project submitted here: CTRL+ALT+DELETE: Are You Being Controlled by Your Feed? or click the video below.

Discoverability Without Identity Is a Losing Game

Zhang (2022) observed that algorithmically favoured content often follows a narrow formula: short, familiar, and fast. Content that doesn’t fit the mould is deprioritised, regardless of how meaningful or original it may be. This has real implications for businesses trying to stand out authentically.

Burgess and Green (2009) described this shift as a move from open platforms to controlled marketplaces. The dream of digital democracy has been replaced with an environment where visibility is a function of compliance. The question then becomes: How do we remain discoverable without losing ourselves?

From Consumption to Creation: Choosing the Work That Matters

If we’re not intentional, we become what the algorithm wants. That’s why I created the "CTRL+ALT+DELETE" metaphor for this project, a call to reset. To pause. To remember that we are not here to serve the algorithm. We are here to serve our communities, our missions, and our sense of meaning.

We need more than tactics. We need a shift in posture. A digital detox alone won’t fix the issue. But a values-driven, self-aware approach to digital marketing might. This is where the reflective web media creation becomes a transformational tool. As Jenkins, Ford, and Green (2013) argue, the value of media is not just in its ability to go viral, but in its ability to spread ideas, challenge assumptions, and invite co-creation. This is especially true in creators, entrepreneurs and small businesses, where marketing is often an extension of the founder’s story.

Reclaim Your Voice, Redefine Your Metrics

Sawhney (2009) suggests that the internet’s evolution requires us to re-evaluate how we constantly engage with digital tools. For small business leaders and tourism operators, this means more than keeping up with trends. It means asking better questions:

• Am I creating with intention or out of obligation?

• Is my content aligned with my values, or is it just mimicking the noise?

• What does real engagement mean to me and my audience?
  

These are not questions platforms will ask you. But they are the questions that will keep your business and creativity alive.

Looking Ahead: Sharing the Research, Sparking the Reset

I’m excited to share this research and the real-world actions in business that I live and breathe every day that stem from it at upcoming conferences and events. At its core, this message is about reclaiming agency in a world where business owners, marketers and creators often feel like hostages to algorithms and overwhelmed by AI hype. The truth is: these systems are designed to distract, but they can also be used to support and amplify your purpose, if you know how to take back control.

The key and power is to pause to disconnect from autopilot and reconnect with what actually moves the needle for your business and community.

If you're looking for a thought-provoking keynote presentation that combines academic research with actionable strategies, I’d love to speak with you to help your audience press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, pause, get their strategy on and walk away with tools, clarity, and confidence to grow on their terms. Of course, I would love to know your thoughts, where is your attention is going, and what's the one thing you can stop doing to reclaim your time, message, or peace of mind?

References

Abidin, C. (2018). From Internet Celebrity to Influencers. In Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online (pp. 71–98). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Abidin, C. (2020). Mapping Internet Celebrity on TikTok: Exploring Attention Economies and Visibility Labours. Cultural Science, 12(1), 77–103.

Burgess, J., & Green, J. (2009). Entrepreneurial Vlogger: Participatory Culture Beyond the Professional Amateur Divide. In The YouTube Reader (pp. 89–107).

Dentsu. (2024). Attention Economy Report. Dentsu International.

Jenkins, H., Ford, S., & Green, J. (2013). Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture. NYU Press.

Mandile, S. (2025). The Dark Side of Social Media: Recommender Algorithms and Mental Health. Curtin University.

Sawhney, H. (2009). Innovations at the Edge: The Impact of Mobile Technologies on the Character of the Internet. In G. Goggin (Ed.), Mobile Technologies: From Telecommunications to Media (pp. 105–117).

Zhang, Z. (2022). Research on Music Album Sales and Commercial Economic Value: Taking Taylor Swift as Evidence. In Y. Jiang et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on E-Commerce and Digital Business Communication (pp. 3–8). Atlantis Press.