What is the value of your attention?

In todays times your attention is a rare commodity, especially on the Web where there are tons of companies offering free services and applications garnering for your attention.
This gives a whole new meaning to term “pay attention”. In school we were always told that, or rather it was “Pay Attention!!!”.
Now it seems that all these websites are offering free services aren’t really free, are they? We’re paying with our attention.

Ok, so if we’re paying for these “free” web services and applications with our attention, what is the value of our attention? What is its value to us (the attentioner) and what is its value to the person/service/application we’re giving our attention to (the attentionee)?

Value to attentioner: This should be pretty easy to work out. It’s the value you give to your time.

Value to attentionee: This is a little more complex and variable.
Here is the little equation that’s been tumbling through my head.

The value of attention received by the attentionee is in direct proportion to the value it provides the attentioner.

As I said, this is variable, as the service/product/application, or whatever you provide is variably valuable to people. What might me valuable to me might not be as valuable to the next person, and vice versa.

So, for example, if you’re still with me and you’ve read and liked this post, the more valuable it’s been to you the more value you will provide back to me in the form of comments, trackbacks, linkbacks, bookmarking and sharing, clicking on ads, or whatever, perhaps even just good will and trust.

What do you think?