Attention please!

Today, media technology processes are largely determined by algorithms. This paper examines their role in filtering and organising content designed to capture attention. The concept of attention is borrowed from Georg Franck's 'economy of attention'. The algorithmic processing of content is based on the extensive measurement of individual and collective attention processes. In doing so, algorithms always exclude certain content. This containment proves to be both useful and risky in the vast, interconnected attention market, as it is susceptible to economic or ideological manipulation. An examination of the filter bubble theory as a concrete form of media-technological containment shows that whilst such filtering tools have always been problematised, algorithms are currently being rightly criticised, as the exclusion and inclusion of content often remains opaque. The thesis concludes that Franck's model offers a framework for reflecting on algorithmic processes in this regard.