Techquitable The attention economy and online governance, with Nathan Schneider
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Oct 21, 2025 Nathan Schneider, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, dives into the intersection of attention economies and governance. He discusses how attention functions as a form of labor and its implications for democratic systems. Schneider explores attention scarcity versus abundance, highlighting collective models like Wikipedia. He shares case studies on DAOstack’s prediction markets and Gitcoin’s steward model, emphasizing ethical design principles for governance. With insights on evolving attention economies, Schneider sets the stage for a more thoughtful approach to online engagement.
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Governance Is Labor, Not Free Input
- Governance requires provisioning and real resources, not just asking everyone for opinions.
- Treat governance as labor that needs time, expertise, and institutional support.
Attention Can Be Abundant Collectively
- Attention can be scarce for individuals but abundant when organized across many contributors.
- Systems like Wikipedia show small contributions can aggregate into collective abundance.
DAOstack's Prediction Market Experiment
- DAOstack added a prediction-market layer to surface which proposals deserved attention.
- The market rewarded a few paid participants to focus while most members stayed low-touch.