Facebook’s behavior modification operates covertly at scale with no social or legal controls

Evidence

Facebook owns an unprecedented means of behavior modification that operates covertly, at scale, and in the absence of social or legal mechanisms of agreement, contest, and control. Even the most stringent application of the “Common Rule” would be unlikely to change these facts. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 955

Categorization

• XREF: Condenses the core surveillance-capitalism thesis of chapters 1-9: behavioral surplus harvested covertly at scale and used for modification. Connects to Zuboff’s earlier concepts of economies of action and radical instrumentarian power. — connects to: Facebook’s systematic denial was timed to habituate users before scrutiny could bite. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 498; Public criticism failed to halt Facebook’s behavior modification experiments — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 942; Facebook’s subliminal emotional manipulation acted on hundreds of thousands of users beyond their awareness — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 944 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Facebook’s adolescent-designed practices were institutionalized for the whole population #expands (0.90) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1423
• Facebook’s design intentionally exploits variable-reward dopamine hits to maximize user time. #expands (0.85) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1437
• Facebook exploits the psychological needs of young people during identity formation. #expands (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1421
• Social sharing of behavioral data abolishes individual privacy in favor of group truth #qualifies (0.70) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1393