The age of attention is here...

Here’s a piece of information that will blow you away. 

When a military coup happens (when a government or ruler is overthrown by the military), do you know the first place that the military takes control of? 

The press. 

Yes you heard that right. The press. Do you know why?

Because it controls the narrative. It has direct access to people’s attention.

Attention, is one of the most valuable currencies in the world. He who controls the narrative, controls the game. It’s also one of the reasons a free press is one of the main pillars of democracy. 

But the last few years have drastically altered how the world works. 

Times have changed, mediums have evolved, but the rules of the game remain the same.

The attention that was controlled by the media and press, is now controlled by giant corporations. Meta, Google, and X. But there’s once small difference.

Unlike the press, these corporations are attention middlemen. 

They take the attention and distribute it among the various creators on their platforms. They don’t control the attention, but merely the distribution. So while they still have considerable say in who sees what, it’s still fairly democratised.

What does this mean for you and me?

It means the greatest opportunity of your life sits in the palm of your hands. 

If you want to lead a life where you are in control, where you make money doing the things that you want to do, and not fall into an endless rat race where you do what you are told with very little agency over your life, then this piece is going to be a must read. 

The power of decentralisation of attention:

The concept of ‘who controls the narrative, controls the game’ has manifested time and again across human history.

Let’s use one of the most important and recent events in the world to dissect the concept further. 

If you followed the US election this year, you know Donald Trump won by a margin and then some. 

Here is a fact I read in the aftermath that blew me away. 

• Donald Trump appeared on a whopping 8 podcasts before the election, compared to Kamala Harris’ 3. ( a major statistic in itself)

But that’s not all. The most important podcast he appeared on was the immistakable Joe Rogan Show.

The 3 hour episode ended up getting close to 60 Million views, the consequent shorts and reels got a lot more. Add to that millions of tweets, takes and discussions on the episode. For context, US population is roughly 340 Million.

Many believe it played a pivotal role in his subsequent victory. Whether it actually did or not, we might never know. 

But I’m much more fascinated by the fact that a podcast, of all things, can impact something as consequential as the US elections. 

That’s the power of decentralisation of attention. That’s why capturing and owning it has immense value. And there were some who understood it well before the masses.

Elon Musk controversially bought Twitter and rebranded it to X. The decisions left many perplexed in it’s wake. 

But after seeing how he used it during the elections, and the impact it had on the subsequent result, it became clear to all that he acted with incredible foresight and intuition. 

The distribution of attention:

Most people now understand the importance of capturing and owning attention in the decentralised online space. If you watch closely, you will see everyone trying to create content online, building personal brands, podcasts, etc.

But there’s a catch. There’s a big shift in how content and consequently attention is distributed. And within that shift, lies a big opportunity (for you)!

Those who understand it, will stand head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to owning attention.

Organic social media is shifting from a follower based model to an interest based model.

An interest based model is free distribution. It means the content you put out, will find the people that are most likely to be interested in it, as opposed to only reaching followers.

Most people don’t realise how significant this is. Free distribution hasn’t existed at any point in history. 

Never before, could you put a piece of information out, a video, a song, a piece of text, anything. And it potentially reaches millions of people, without you spending a penny. 

And that possibility has redefined what the path to success looks like.

You are no longer dependant on any external institutions or people to give you an opportunity. You can create it yourself.

For example…

25 years ago, if you wanted to become a successful musician, you would write some songs, rent a studio to record some nice demos, and then send that cassette to every music label you could think of so that eventually one of them likes what you make, and decides to sign you. 

If you get signed, you get a shot at success. If not, then you keep repeating the process of writing demos and sending them in until someone signs you or you give up. 

Today, if you wanted to have a career in music, you could write some songs, publish them online and make boatloads of content about it on social media platforms. If you write good songs, and are doing a good job with your content, you blow up, amass a following and then you leverage the following to release more songs, sell tickets to your shows, sell merch, and much more. The monetisation options are endless.

But here’s something you should know. You could be an amazing artist and if you suck at creating content with the right framework, you would never get discovered. 

And at the same time, you could be an okay artist, but if you create amazing content and package yourself well, you will gather a following and have people consume your stuff. 

A lot of artists complain about this, but they are usually the ones left behind. 

Reality doesn’t care if you like it or not. It exists. With, or without your approval. 

So you can either keep complaining and stay where you are, or you learn to adapt and do what it takes to get where you want to. 

How you can use this to your benefit:

If attention is the currency of today, and it’s distribution is now free, the next logical question is how do we accumulate more of it?

The answer is quite simple. You start to build an audience. You become a creator. 

Most people’s eyes roll at hearing that. 

“What? I can’t create content, I’m not comfortable in front of a camera.”

“I can’t speak well”.

“I don’t know how to create content”.

Well then learn. There are some workarounds. Like if you aren’t great in front of a camera, you can start with writing content. And go to video when you’re comfortable. 

But eventually, you will have to get around to doing it. Because if you don’t, then you miss out on a god given opportunity. To capture attention at scale, using free distribution, and do what YOU want to do.

Not what someone tells you to do.

“Most people live lives that are assigned to them. By society, by their parents, by schools.” - Dan Koe

This is your chance to live your own life. Not one assigned to you.

People tend to see this new paradigm as a shackle that binds them. But they don’t realise it yet, this is what frees them.

There are no gatekeepers anymore. 

• No gallery to decide if your art is good enough

• No publisher to decide if your book is good enough

• No record label to decide if your song is good enough. 

• No investors to decide if your business is good enough.

Anything that you want to do, you can start making content about, gather a following, and monetise it.

It sounds easier than it is, like most things do. But once you start, you realise it’s very doable.

Put your stuff out on the internet. Learn the frameworks required to do well. Iterate and improve. Error correct towards your goal.

If you get good enough, people will start to follow you, consume your stuff, and eventually buy from you. If they’re not consuming, then you’re not good enough yet. Keep trying.

Hundreds of thousands of people around the world, have used the decentralisation of attention to their benefit. From building hyper successful businesses, to doing what they love for a living. 

The question that beckons is, will you strive to be one of them? Or will you continue to cling on to mediocrity? Choose wisely.

Hope you got something out of this. 

Thanks for reading through. 

See you next week,

- Khyatt