“Free” is expensive

Summary

The article argues that "free" digital products like Facebook come at a cost, such as time, attention, and opportunity, suggesting that buying information can reduce information pollution and improve mental nourishment.

Abstract

The article titled "“Free” is expensive" delves into the hidden costs of using seemingly free digital services. It posits that while products like Facebook may not require monetary payment, they extract a high price in the form of users' time, attention, and the opportunity cost of what could have been done with that time. The author, referencing Seneca, highlights that humans often undervalue their own time and attention, paying for free services with their personal freedom and honor. The piece suggests that by purchasing information, such as books, articles, or supporting content creators through platforms like Patreon, individuals can counteract the negative effects of clickbait and low-quality content driven by advertising models. This act of buying information is likened to purchasing carbon offsets, where the consumer not only contributes to reducing informational pollution but also gains immediate value in the form of high-quality content. The author encourages readers to shift their focus from consumption to production, to avoid becoming a product themselves, and to support creators directly, fostering a virtuous cycle of attention towards valuable content.

Opinions

"Free" digital products are not truly free; they are paid for with users' time, attention, and opportunity costs.
The economy of scale in technology amplifies the burden of payment across a larger user base, enabling more sophisticated products that attract even more users.
Seneca's ancient wisdom suggests that humans often fail to recognize the personal cost of so-called free things, including anxiety, danger, and lost honor and time.
When not producing, individuals risk becoming the product, with their attention hijacked by advertisers or venture capitalists.
Purchasing information flips the economics of content creation, incentivizing integrity and value over clickbait and sensationalism.
Buying information is akin to investing in carbon offsets, reducing informational pollution and providing immediate mental nourishment.
Supporting creators directly, whether through book purchases, subscriptions, or patronage, ensures that one's attention aligns with their values, creating a virtuous cycle of quality content consumption.

“Free” is expensive

It’s tempting to take things that are “free.” Facebook is one such free product that is pretty darn good. But, free things are actually quite expensive.

If you aren’t paying for something with money, you’re paying for it in some other way. You pay with your time, your attention, and the opportunity costs: What could you have done otherwise with that time and attention?

The economies of scale that technology provides makes this especially true today. The burden of “paying” can be spread across a larger group of people, which can in turn afford a more sophisticated product, which can in turn attract even more people.

But, it’s not necessarily new. Nearly 2000 years ago, Seneca wrote:

Our stupidity may be clearly proved by the fact that we hold that “buying” refers only to the objects for which we pay cash, and we regard as free gifts the things for which we spend our very selves….we are eager to attain them at the cost of anxiety, of danger, and of lost honour, personal freedom, and time; so true it is that each man regards nothing as cheaper than himself.

If you aren’t focusing on producing, you are becoming a product. Your neurons are being hijacked by advertisers — or venture capitalists delaying said hijacking — and neural pathways are being carved to make it easier to do it again and again.

You are selling pieces of yourself, and you’re worth more than that.

This is most true of information, and there’s a surefire way to fight it: Buy information. When you buy information, you flip the economics. Instead of incentivizing people to try to steal your attention with clickbait titles and articles of dubious integrity — all for the sake of selling your eyeballs to an advertiser, or raising another round of funding — you incentivize them to create something you value enough to pay for it.

It’s like buying carbon offsets. (Okay, so you don’t buy carbon offsets, but still.) When you buy information you value, you reduce information pollution. Unlike carbon offsets, you get something tangible right away: You take in brain nutrition instead of brain junk food.

So, buy information: next time a friend recommends a book to you, buy it. Next time that high-quality online magazine tells you you’ve exhausted your free articles for the month, buy it. Next time your favorite podcast launches a Patreon campaign, buy it. Next time your favorite public radio station launches a pledge drive, buy it. Your attention will go where your money goes, and that will work in a virtuous cycle.

That’s what I believe. Then again, this advice may not be worth more than what you paid for it.

On my podcast, Love Your Work, I’m planning an important conversation with Nir Eyal about the state of digital distraction. Subscribe on iTunes, or listen to the interview with Jason Fried now.