Even more fundamental than data collection is advertising.
Books, and to some extent film, are the only media which aren't absolutely flooded with advertising. Print serial media are (though it's rapidly vanishing), music is (through both broadcast and streaming services, though not via direct media purchases), serial video (television, cable, streaming services, YouTube, and of course social media, are all absolutely saturated with advertising. Which is what the data are feeding, of course.
That Newport fails to make this distinction, and that the goal of TikTok et al are to absolutely engross your attention and time, is a critical failure of this piece.
Books, and to some extent film, are the only media which aren't absolutely flooded with advertising. Print serial media are (though it's rapidly vanishing), music is (through both broadcast and streaming services, though not via direct media purchases), serial video (television, cable, streaming services, YouTube, and of course social media, are all absolutely saturated with advertising. Which is what the data are feeding, of course.
That Newport fails to make this distinction, and that the goal of TikTok et al are to absolutely engross your attention and time, is a critical failure of this piece.