attention
If you're not paying for it, you are the product
The rule
Free information is paid for with your attention and your trades. So the cheapest-looking source is often the most costly.
Where it flips
Free does not mean worthless. Some free sources are truly useful and honest. The fix is to notice how the free thing earns, and read its nudges against that. Do not assume you must pay to be well informed.
A free feed, app, or channel still has to earn money. It earns from your attention and your activity. So the content is shaped to hold your eyes and push you to trade, because that is what the business sells. What looks like a free service is really a machine that turns your time and clicks into someone's income.
A worked example
A free broker app shows a lively feed of tips, streaks, and confetti when you trade. The app earns on every trade. So the design that feels like a gift is tuned to make you act more often than you should. [illustrative]
How to spot it
- ·rewards or streaks for trading more
- ·a feed tuned to hold your attention
- ·the free tool earning on each trade
- ·your engagement treated as the real product
Tim Wu · The Attention Merchants