Eugene Wei on attention economy
From Eugene Wei: Tech’s New Era, The Death of Boredom, Culture on Repeat · · Life of Luba
“Sometimes you need the space of boredom to actually think in. When you're always just absorbing tweets or photos on Instagram stories or whatever, you're mostly just absorbing — the moment you're bored with that thing, you just swipe and you go to something else.”
On , Eugene Wei, Independent Analyst at Independent, spoke about attention economy during Eugene Wei: Tech’s New Era, The Death of Boredom, Culture on Repeat on Life of Luba.
About Eugene Wei
Eugene Wei, a former executive at Amazon, Hulu, Flipboard, and Oculus, has continued to write and speak about technology, media, and culture. In recent appearances, he has discussed the impact of algorithms on social media and attention, arguing that the transition from social networking to social media occurred when algorithms were placed over feeds. Wei has described TikTok as an "algorithmic entertainment platform" that bypasses the social graph in favor of an interest graph, and has stated that "even if you ban TikTok, the damage to the western digital nervous system has already been done." He has also commented on the state of Twitter, suggesting that a paid tier offering power features could be more effective than the current $8-per-month model. Wei has expressed concern about the commoditization of human attention by social media platforms, stating that "the thing that it commoditizes the most is human attention" and that it is "thrown around willy-nilly." He has also discussed the value of boredom for thinking, noting that "sometimes you need the space of boredom to actually think in." In conversations about AI, Wei has described large language models as "awe inspiring" and suggested they could enable a shift from imperative to declarative user interfaces. He has also reflected on his time at Amazon, noting that founder Jeff Bezos "obsessed over how the company makes decisions and communicates," and that successful founders often learn from mentors and seasoned executives.