The Digital Amnesie Regime: Walled Gardens, the Attention Economy, and the Cultural Loss of History
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This paper examines the radical transformation of the internet from an open, decentralized network into a fragmented ecosystem dominated by corporate "Walled Gardens" (such as Google, Meta, and TikTok). Analyzing this shift through a media-economic lens, the article defines how platform capitalism and the laws of the attention economy turn these monopolies into "predatory gatherers" that extract human culture, user data, and finite attention solely for capital accumulation. Crucially, the paper argues that by enforcing a strict "dictatorship of the feed" and shifting toward AI-synthesized, zero-click search environments, these platforms systematically bury past information in favor of immediate, profitable stimuli. This architecture creates a structural, automated form of erasure—a modern "Cancel Culture" of history itself. The author concludes that without intervention, this ongoing monetization of the present moment risks plunging society into a "Digital Dark Age," where collective memory, historical context, and the durability of human knowledge are irreversibly lost without the general public's awareness.
Author: Krug, Peter Siegfried
Institution: Independent Research Association
Language: English
Topic: Digital Media and Philosophy
Subfield: Computer Science Applications
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7166296862
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