Programmable attention
Feed-shaped web platforms are purposive. Parametrize the purpose to see what it's controlling - and you see that it's controlling attention. Others have found it fruitful to try to coopt the purpose of the popular feeds (Tumblr or Instagram or what have you - Andy Matuschak uses Twitter as the canonical example), and indeed selling that prospect is the business model of feed-makers in 2024. But you could write your own feed maker tool that does something completely different, with similar capacities! See also spaced repetition, Zettelkasten is about developing ideas, not collecting them.