Newer forms of nonlinear media evidence analogous patterns of “attention flow.”[3] Radio and network television arrange content in a linear sequence determined by the broadcaster.
By 2008, industry analysts had begun to claim that since each person composed their own flow, the media had lost its ability to manage audience behavior.
[10] Second, many nonlinear platforms such as music or video streaming services use algorithms to serve up media sequentially, creating analogous patterns of flow.
Third, beyond individual digital platforms, the internet itself has unseen architectures that nudge users in certain directions, creating online attention flows.
The analysis of audience flow has the virtue of assessing potential effects against actual patterns of online consumption at scale.