Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: This paper considers the intersection of governance and attention in digital contexts. In particular, it argues for the relevance of ‘attention economies’, or the analysis of human attention as a resource, to ‘governance surfaces’, or the means available for organisational adaptation and action. Existing theoretical frameworks for the governance of community-managed resources lack adequate consideration for how people’s attention is engaged and directed. To address this gap, this paper proposes heuristics that assess how attention relates to governance in online organisations. The heuristics are informed by literature on attention economies and governance, as well as three case studies that consider recent attempts to address attention in the design of governance surfaces in blockchain-based systems. The resulting heuristics serve as analytical and normative tools to enable researchers and system designers to better understand attention in a governance system. They invite consideration of whether the structure of attention in a system is appropriate, efficient, and just.
Authors: Nathan Schneider, Kelsie Nabben, Ronen Tamari, Michael Zargham
Institution: University of Colorado Boulder
Language: English
Topic: Digital Media and Philosophy
Subfield: Computer Science Applications
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4413846530