We had read this statement by the Satya Nadella in the past but were reminded of it from senior mediaperson Vishakha Singh’s highly readable ‘Habits for Thinking’ newsletter. Without any further ado, here’s Dr Bhaskar Das in the December 20 edition of Das ka Dum. Read on…
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Q. Microsoft boss Satya Nadella has said that attention, not data is the new oil. “Data is plentiful. Attention is scarce, and we’ll never get more of it. Thinking about how we focus that correctly, I think, is one of our most significant opportunities.” Do you think the Indian media is really harvesting attention well?
A. I find Satya Nadella’s opinion very interesting. It seems obvious but axioms like “data as the new oil” and “attention economy” have generally been commented as independent variables of the new world order. But Mr Nadella has contrasted their relative importance in terms of prioritisation to enable us to discover significant opportunities. When I introspect on his observation, a socio-economic and psychological angle comes out that could usher in a more equitable and humanitarian societal stratification. Otherwise, obsession with accelerated technological and computing power might blind us to its side-effects on human society.
Regarding Indian media harvesting attention well, there can’t be a definitive answer in black and white or a Yes or No. It’s more of an art and passion and of course it needs deep understanding of consumer behaviour especially on the basis of various cohorts. The sources of distraction are too many and catching the ever-fleeting attention is easier said than done. Having said that, I would hasten to add that consumers are intelligent to decode anything that benefits humanity at large and not mere platitudes or perfunctory rhetoric.