Books/papers on how social media and attention

August 21, 2018 5:20 AM

I'm interested in learning more about the science and techniques of how social media platforms build engagement and capture attention. I'm looking for the nitty-gritty details of what they do and why it works so I can use these powers (for good!) in some of my work projects. What books, papers, talks, or other more-rigorous-than-pop-psychology sources would you suggest?
posted by philosophygeek to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

I'd suggest The Distracted Mind: Ancient Brains in a High-Tech World (MIT Press, 2017) by Adam Gazzaley (MD and neurologist) and Larry D. Rosen (research psychologist). It's a very accessible and well-researched book on attention from the perspectives of behavioral science, cognitive science, and neuroscience.

The authors don't specifically discuss how to build a social media platform, but they do explore the mechanics underlying our compulsive attraction to things like social media.
posted by Boxenmacher at 10:12 AM on August 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Spreadable Media
posted by Jabberwocky at 11:16 AM on August 21, 2018

This NPR "Reply-All" piece about clickbait "chumbox" stories was interesting.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 2:58 PM on August 21, 2018