Withdrawing attention

After reading an article by Hugh McGuire, the founder of LibriVox, in late 2024, I made a vow to reduce my social media usage. I noted that although I didn't post much, I did find myself doomscrolling far too often, which was affecting my ability to read and reducing my creative output.

McGuire writes that "digital devices and software are finely tuned to train us to pay attention to them, no matter what else we should be doing"¹ and laments the difficulties people have concentrating. Social media in particular is a problem, and passive consumption of negative media can severely affect mental health; it was certainly affecting mine.

In her book, How to Do Nothing, Jenny Odell recognises the "waves of hating, shaming, and vindictive public opinion that roll unchecked through [social media] platforms"². She suggests that resisting is not a single act, but a practice:

Civil disobedience in the attention economy means withdrawing attention. ... A real withdrawal of attention happens first and foremost in the mind. What is needed, then, is not a "once-and-for-all" type of quitting but ongoing training: the ability not just to withdraw attention, but to invest it somewhere else, to enlarge and proliferate it, to improve its acuity.³

Erin Kissane points out that "position[ing] the broad landscape of connection as something that 'we' can simply do without—and without which we will indeed feel better and be more productive"⁴ is dangerous. Kissane continues by mentioning Rebecca Solnit's writing on care during and after disaster:

The need for broad connection becomes literally vital: people live or die based on the resources and help they receive or don't receive.⁵

Odell also discusses Solnit; indeed, the entire chapter titled 'The Ecology of Strangers' stresses the importance of other people. "If critical distance is what we're after," she writes, "I think there's an important distinction to make between isolating oneself versus removing oneself from the clamor and undue influence of public opinion."⁶

Balancing the need for connection with this clamour is difficult, particularly as some of these major platforms become more and more toxic. However, there is still value in remaining within select, safe(r) spaces. What I intend to do is to expand my attention and focus by reading more, and perhaps scrolling a little less.

Footnotes