This paper examines the structural shift that occurs when engagement in digital products ceases to function as a proxy for value creation and instead becomes a mechanism of extraction. Rather than framing engagement as inherently positive or negative, the analysis treats it as a neutral metric whose meaning depends on what is being accumulated, by whom, and at what cost. Positioned at a system and organizational level, the paper argues that late-stage digital products increasingly rely on extracting time, attention, emotional regulation, and identity investment without proportionate value return to users. Engagement, in this context,…