Everyone, from both sides of the aisle, needs to push back on administrations that are all in on empowering Silicon Valley to unleash what I call ATTENTION HEROIN indiscriminately on our nation’s children.
Not to mention on all of us. And yes, I chose those words, ATTENTION HEROIN, intentionally.
Because these platforms are not simply designed to entertain or inform us. They are engineered to capture, hold, and monetize human attention as aggressively as possible. The longer we scroll, react, argue, compare, and consume… the more profitable they become.
And not just profitable… powerful.
Because attention has become one of the most valuable commodities on earth. The companies that control it influence not only what we buy, but increasingly what we see, believe, feel, and focus on. Improving people’s lives is often secondary unless it also improves engagement, growth, and revenue.
Children are growing up inside systems optimized for engagement before they are emotionally mature enough to understand what’s happening to them. Adults are struggling too.
This is not a left issue or a right issue. It is a human issue.
Technology itself is not the villain. I believe deeply in the power of technology to amplify humanity, relationships, and community. But somewhere along the way, optimization overtook intention. Engagement became more important than enrichment. And now we are all living with the consequences: shortened attention spans, rising anxiety, performative behavior, outrage addiction, loneliness, and a growing inability to simply be present with one another.
The scariest part? AI will make these systems even better at capturing and manipulating human attention. We should all be asking: At what point did engagement stop being innovation… and become exploitation? Because I believe we are already there… AND it’s getting worse.